Author Topic: ***Henry J Kaiser's Personal 1955 Kaiser for Sale  (Read 14675 times)

darrin502

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***Henry J Kaiser's Personal 1955 Kaiser for Sale
« on: March 12, 2019, 09:28:07 PM »
 ***Henry J Kaiser's Personal 1955 Kaiser With Indian Ceramic (Pink) Leather Interior***



 Recently re-discovered Henry J Kaiser's personal 1955 Kaiser (one of two identically built for Mr. and Mrs. Kaiser). Both car's were painted Palm Beach Ivory with Indian Ceramic roof and trimmed identically with Indian Ceramic leather interiors. While it had been known for years in the 60's by local KF members in the Bay area these cars existed it wasn't until the 70's when John Parker first discovered and bought one in Northern California that any survived. It had been rumored that the other car still existed but only recently has it been discovered. Unfortunately the one John Parker found serial # 51367-5216 was scrapped in the late 70's. While it is not known for sure which car Mr. Kaiser drove and which one Mrs. Kaiser drove as both are listed in the Henry J Kaiser Company Automotive fleet Dec. 1 1955 as assigned to Henry J Kaiser.

 Fortunately this car still survives today and is a true piece of KF automotive history. If your looking for a 54 or 55 Kaiser than this one is well worth the effort considering it's history. It needs a complete restoration but has all the crucial patterns needed to duplicate the interior. Very little rust. It had a small block 283 installed in the 80's but with the exception of the front engine mounts nothing was cut. It was a running and driving car 10 years ago with the v8 but has been sitting since.
 Several unique one off Kaiser's ended up in Oakland Calif. for executive use over the course of the KF corporation since it was where Kaiser had a majority of his business offices. While it used to be fairly common to see unique one off Kaiser's around the bay area over the years it's a rare occurrence anymore as most not in the hands of KF members already have been scrapped over the years. Another one off 1955 Kaiser was scrapped a few years ago by a long time KF member in Northern California and had many unique features never seen on a KF before such as a front seat that folds flat to make into a bed (fortunately the front seat was saved to prove to any no believers it really existed) as well as upholstery never before seen or mentioned in any KF documents (have samples of this as well).

 If you want to own a piece of KF automotive history here is your chance to own one of the most unique 1954-55 Kaiser's ever produced.

ANY INTEREST???


LM #1068
1954 Darrin # 103
1954 Darrin #  60
1954 Darrin #  51
1954 Darrin #  91
1954 Darrin # 394
1954 Darrin # 193
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Mr Manhattan

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Re: ***Henry J Kaiser's Personal 1955 Kaiser for Sale
« Reply #1 on: March 12, 2019, 10:24:21 PM »
Body photos and price please.

darrin502

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Re: ***Henry J Kaiser's Personal 1955 Kaiser for Sale
« Reply #2 on: March 13, 2019, 12:06:14 AM »
I was asked by the owner to list the car. I will contact the owner and get the information you need.
LM #1068
1954 Darrin # 103
1954 Darrin #  60
1954 Darrin #  51
1954 Darrin #  91
1954 Darrin # 394
1954 Darrin # 193
1959 Corvette
1968 Corvette
1968 Mustang
1959 Austin Healy Bug Eye Sprite
2002 Limited Edition Camaro

Roadmaster49

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Re: ***Henry J Kaiser's Personal 1955 Kaiser for Sale
« Reply #3 on: March 13, 2019, 08:11:59 AM »
Leave for a week, look what happens.    What records if any are available to prove that the car is the special HJK car?  I'm not doubting, but the backstory is better and more interesting if there are records. 

I would add that ANY 1955 Kaiser is uber-rare in it's own right.  I would take it, but I am sure the asking price is a bit high for me.  If you don't want to state it, you can PM me.

It's a great story, and clearly someone saw it and looked into it.  You couldn't ask for better colors in my opinion. While Indian Ceramic might be described as Pink, I personally see quite a bit of red tint in that pink on a nice car.
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Carpenter

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Re: ***Henry J Kaiser's Personal 1955 Kaiser for Sale
« Reply #4 on: March 13, 2019, 10:17:10 AM »
I am very familiar with the one that John Parker bought.  I have a photo of it parked in his yard.  However, unless sunlight turned the colors as the car aged the exterior was white and the interior was a mild pink.  Larry Baker has the upper rear fender and tail light, confirming white, and I have 3 parts which have the interior color on them.

Carpenter

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Re: ***Henry J Kaiser's Personal 1955 Kaiser for Sale
« Reply #5 on: March 13, 2019, 10:21:16 AM »
Maybe the car was repainted.  The story is that the one I am identifying was white with pink interior and pleated leather interior, and given to Jayne Mansfield. The photo confirms white, and the parts I have confirm pink interior.

Carpenter

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Re: ***Henry J Kaiser's Personal 1955 Kaiser for Sale
« Reply #6 on: March 13, 2019, 10:51:19 AM »
The color of the dash is what is on the parts that I have.

Gordie

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Re: ***Henry J Kaiser's Personal 1955 Kaiser for Sale
« Reply #7 on: March 13, 2019, 11:57:13 AM »
Didn't Henry Kaiser also own a 1955 Kaiser with an overhead valve engine?  Is that car still around?  Since there were two of these cars built for Mr and Mrs Kaiser why couldn't this one be the one that was given to Jane Mansfield?  Food for thought!
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kaiserfrazerlibrary

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Re: ***Henry J Kaiser's Personal 1955 Kaiser for Sale
« Reply #8 on: March 13, 2019, 12:28:07 PM »
The HJK car I know of with an OHV 6 was a 1951 done up as a Kaiser Dragon.  The engine was a prototype and it was used as a test car to see if performance and fuel consumption made it a good replacement for the flathead 226.  Overall results and reliabilitiy suggested the existing engine configuration would be better for use than tooling up this motor.  At one time there was still a lot of documentation with the car to establish its history. 

Fid

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Re: ***Henry J Kaiser's Personal 1955 Kaiser for Sale
« Reply #9 on: March 13, 2019, 02:16:46 PM »
As so not to hijack this For Sale post, the car Gordie is asking about and Jack is mentioning was discussed in this thread:

http://kfclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,3978.msg17369.html#msg17369

1953 Henry J Corsair Deluxe
Edgar Kaiser's custom 1951 Henry J
1951 Kaiser Special
1952 Allstate Deluxe

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Carpenter

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Re: ***Henry J Kaiser's Personal 1955 Kaiser for Sale
« Reply #10 on: March 13, 2019, 07:54:02 PM »
Gordie, the colors are wrong for it to be the one which he gave Jayne Mansfield...and the car he gave her, that John Parker parted out had...tags.  I have them.

darrin502

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Re: ***Henry J Kaiser's Personal 1955 Kaiser for Sale
« Reply #11 on: March 17, 2019, 10:46:12 PM »
I got a little more info
hope this helps
The price is $6,500.00 OBO
Just trying to help the owner out, don't shoot the messenger.
LM #1068
1954 Darrin # 103
1954 Darrin #  60
1954 Darrin #  51
1954 Darrin #  91
1954 Darrin # 394
1954 Darrin # 193
1959 Corvette
1968 Corvette
1968 Mustang
1959 Austin Healy Bug Eye Sprite
2002 Limited Edition Camaro

jake

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Re: ***Henry J Kaiser's Personal 1955 Kaiser for Sale
« Reply #12 on: March 18, 2019, 01:55:23 AM »
Who do we email - to look at the car..

What was the location of the car?
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Roadmaster49

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Re: ***Henry J Kaiser's Personal 1955 Kaiser for Sale
« Reply #13 on: March 18, 2019, 08:43:06 AM »
I got a little more info
hope this helps
The price is $6,500.00 OBO
Just trying to help the owner out, don't shoot the messenger.

Thank you, it is a big help and I don't think anyone here will negatively comment about your help.  Price is what the seller wants.  In the grand scheme of things, it's not too far off. It just depends on what the seller and buyer want to do with the car.    As I mentioned earlier, we are talking about 1 of 226 4 door Manhattans made in 1955.  These rarely come up for sale in any condition.  If you add to that, the provenance of the car, then it has value to the KFOCI crowd. 

This is a dwindling community and I know of no one restoring a car.  I am sure a few of us are, but very few.  Most of us are content to maintain and drive what we have.  The KF community is not unique in this regard.  I am active on a couple of other forums - we all like to see these cars located and presented - but few of them change hands. 

Years ago I was a Packard Club member in addition to many other clubs.  I desperately wanted a 1956 Packard 400 or similar. As most of you know, 1956 was the last true year for Packard.  I read a critical book - "The Rise and Fall of the Packard Motor Car Company."  It was a great book and I regret sending it to Half Price. 

In it, the author painted a picture of the last days of Packard with life long assembly workers despondent over the demise of the company, wandering aimlessly. The critical papers being dumped in dumpsters.  Executives caring less, not knowing what to do.  I wanted one of those cars, the last - and to be fair I think 1956 Packards were still produced in the thousands, just not 5 digits thousands.  The 56's were the last and always will be so owning one would give a person a sense of owning history, and preserving it.

I know I am hijacking the thread a bit but this is the impression I get of the few assembled 55 Kaisers. Wow, 226 plus a few 2 door models.  I believe they were assembled in Indiana on memory.  But I imagine some manager making sure enough workers were around to make them from leftover parts.  The workers say "sure".  Then - a line supervisor gets the S.O. for the 2 HJK cars.  The workers note the tags and Indian Ceramic colors and the fact they are together - and are making them.  They get completed, test driven and shipped off. 

YOU could own one of these.  To me, this is just as impressive as that "last one off the assembly line" 55 that has been advertised for years in the $10,000 to $15,000 range.  Seems like a bargain to me at $6500. 

I just love halo cars - the special ones that pop up from time to time.    Thanks again for posting.
« Last Edit: March 18, 2019, 08:46:55 AM by Roadmaster49 »
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Carpenter

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Re: ***Henry J Kaiser's Personal 1955 Kaiser for Sale
« Reply #14 on: March 18, 2019, 08:30:18 PM »
darrin502...Thank You. The car s absolutely beautiful and priced right.  Wish I was able to grab it immediately.