Muntz Kaiser Pickup

[Bob G]

Attended the Harrisburg, PA new car show yesterday. The AACA Museum had a display which included a '47 Kaiser pickup. Was told it was one of three produced by an independent shop for use by "Madman" Muntz in advertising. It has been modified to include a small block V-8. This car has probably been posted on the K-F site before. Was a nice surprise to see it.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Henry J. Kaiser Jr. sent these (and other) photos on to brother Edgar Kaiser at the end of 1946..  The truck was "prepared' by an outside body shop for use by one of the other K-F dealers in the Southern California area.  I know there was a second version of the truck with a different cab constructed in 1947; Ben Ensor, the distributor for the San Diego territory may had one of those.

[Fid]

This is interesting because it pre-dates the Ford Ranchero by 10 years and the Chevy El Camino by 12 but it's the same concept.  A car/truck in one.

[Gordie]

We have been discussing the Kaiser and Frazer pick-up trucks for a couple of years on this forum.  No one has ever come  up with any evidence that  Earl Muntz ever had anything to do with building pick-ups while he was the distributor for Kaiser-Frazer in the Los Angeles and New York City areas.  One of his dealers did build one out of a wrecked car and that is the one that Jack Mueller has illustrated with copies of photos from the dealer.  Several other examples of homemade pick-ups survive from cars modified over the years.  The story that Muntz built three pick-ups from new cars is a tough rumor to break but all it is is a rumor.  Lets stop it in its tracks!  Car-pick-ups have been around for many years and the Coupe Express by Studebaker from 1935-1948 is a good example.  People making trucks out of wrecked cars goes back over 100 years.

[Corsairdeluxe]

In my home town in the 50's, the local battery shop had a Dusenberg that was converted into a flatbed truck. The Shriner's Oriental band rode on it during parades.

http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2014/03/duesenburgs-modified-to-be-trucks.html

[Fid]

Dad made a Henry J into a pick up in 1959

[dogwalkfinds]

That Henry J conversion is really nice looking! Wish that was in my driveway right now.

[Gordie]

If that Duesenberg pick-up conversion was in the Los Angeles area I remember it and it was for sale at a swap meet for $5,000 which was a very high price at the time.  My father had a 1929 Dodge converted pick-up in 1947 and I learned to drive in it.

[kghills]

Dad made a Henry J into a pick up in 1959

That is pretty cool.  One of the better conversions I have seen of any make.  Pretty talented father. 

[Roadmaster49]

The last thread ended on a sour note with the original inquirer trying to sell the truck he bought to restore. Rather than start another discussion, the other one should be revisited.  On the other hand it was going on 4 or 5 pages, maybe more, and new members such as Bob G may not want to go down that road again.

Muntz Legend has been adequately debunked. He was not part of the 3 known converted trucks. IMO the truck that was customized from a 1948 (or 1947) Frazer is the most authentic and interesting converted KF because it retains it's original drivetrain, is based on a Frazer Manhattan so should have / could have a more luxurious refinement to the interior, and as I recall had nice custom bodywork.

It needed restored, but each owner is trying to embellish the story in order to make money, period.  No one wants to tackle the "restoration". 

[MarkH]

.................. and new members such as Bob G may not want to go down that road again.............

Just curious, how many years (or post counts) does someone need to not be "new" around here?

[jbailey]

I was promoted to "junior member" from newbie" after 50 posts.

John B.

1952 Willys Aero Wing Basket Case
1961 Chevrolet Corvair 700 4dr
 

[Roadmaster49]

.................. and new members such as Bob G may not want to go down that road again.............

Just curious, how many years (or post counts) does someone need to not be "new" around here?

I meant no disrespect. I just wanted to point out that resurrecting that multi-page thread by adding on to it may not have been what Bob was wanting.  Just that he spotted the one car at AACA and was letting us know.

Sometimes even now a new old topic will pop up and a member will say we already covered that, but I never saw the old thread.  That is precisely what happened when I noticed the original pick up thread.  Then it took me about 45 minutes to carefully read all of the content.  I was interested in the subject then where I was not necessarily earlier. 

Then in reading all of the content, I fully understood that Muntz had nothing to do with any of these pickups and it is not entirely known even if 3 were made!  It's all urban myth.  If the display at AACA is allowing this untruth about the Muntz connection to continue it is doing a disservice.  There is simply is no documentation. 

I would love to own that 47-48 FRAZER pickup but the seller was unrealistic on value.  I would pay about $1000 for it and restore it, with the original drivetrain. 

[Bob G]

Will try to post photos of the vehicle I started this thread with. Then we can end it. The comments have not deterred me from doing this again as applicable. You do not see many K-F cars, original or modified, so I thought this one would be of interest. And it was!

[Bob G]

Here are the photos.