New Pics

[Frog]

Some new pic of my 49'.........

[Gordie]

A beautiful car with a pretty color.  What kind of hood ornament and lower fender ornaments are you using?

[Frog]

They were there when I got her from the in-laws. Guess they're after-market add-ons.

[49 K491]

Great looking car !!

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

I am working on trying to figure out something relative to 1949 Kaiser and Frazer tail lights...your red tail light pieces are plastics, not glass like on the Kaiser...right?

[mbflemingkf]

Jack, I may be misunderstanding the direction of your question, but the 49/50 Frazer upper and lower tail light lenses were available in BOTH glass and plastic.  I have both in my inventory and both in KF boxes.  What I've never quite understood is when the plastic ones were introduced or exactly why.  I don't know of any other year that were available in both.  Maybe a future atricle in the Bulletin??

[Jim B PEI]

My understanding is that 'generally' plastic lenses became available during the 1951 model year for many makes of cars, which would be from 1950 calendar year. Due to the odd KF set-up re 49/50 and (ISTR, could be mistaken) the unusually long 51 model year, perhaps the glass are from the 49 production and the plastic lenses are from 1950 production? That glass was ON the 50 cars was because they were actually reserialed 1949 models already built, but if 1950 cars had been produced after a certain date they would have had the same design lenses, but in plastic? As such, the replacements were switched over to plastic, and either stock of leftover glass already shipped in 1948-49 or newer plastic were available. Seems possible to me...

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

I acquired a quantity of 1949-50 Kaiser and Frazer tail light lenses at a price that made putting them into the old Dealership Display in KY financially practical.  I wondered which were cheaper to make, mindful of the last-minute cost cutting done on the 1949 Frazer program and if the Frazer lights marked the changeover.  I know that all 1951 and later model years were plastics, and it would seem to me they would be a little bit better to use, providing that they were not affected by prolonged exposure to sunlight and heat, etc.

[Jeri Conklin]

This is where I am so confused. My understanding is for the car to be considered a '49 "Frazer" it would have the Mercury head hood ornament and when Kaiser took it over and retagged the '49s to '50s, it was changed to the winged thing that is on your car in the pictures below. While my 49 Frazer is a renumered 50, my hood ornament is the Mercury head. Beautiful car by the way! Would you be so kind as to take a picture of the inside door openers? I thought they were supposed to be round things that you pushed to open the doors, yet mine came with a handle to open the door. Also, your front hood with the emblem and whatever you call that piece that runs along the hood edge that says "Frazer" is it attached to the emblem as one piece or is it two pieces? I ask because I have both the frazer crest emblem on the one piece frazer thing that goes along the front edge of the hood, and the separate frazer piece as well as a separate frazer crest emblem, so which is correct? Thanks for all the info.

[Jeri Conklin]

My apologies for referring to the hood ornament as a Mercury head instead of the hood with fin. To me it looks like a Mercury head though I realize it is a hood with a fin.

[Gordie]

1949 and 1950 Kaisers and Frazers came originally with no hood ornaments but in about March of 1949 K-F offered an accessory hood ornament that you could buy and have someone install it for you.  The Kaiser and Frazer had their own unique ornaments that were quite different from each other.  Not many were sold but for those who wanted one they would fit on the earlier cars also and that is why you sometimes see the 1949 ornaments on the earlier cars.  Kaiser was not the first to offer an ornament for these cars as at least ten different manufacturers offered aftermarket ornaments for the earlier cars.  That is what seems to be on this Frazer and all of these aftermarket ornaments probably prompted K-F to offer one of their own.  All K-F products after 1950 had an ornament from the factory.  At the upcoming meet in San Diego look for a display of most of those accessory ornaments.

[Kenn Evans II]

I have the same hood ornament on my 49 Traveler.  Your car looks sharp.  Hope to have mine just as nice in a year or so.  Thanks for the new photos.