Kaiser Frazer Owners Club Forum
General Category => Cars For Sale & Wanted => Topic started by: retroguy on September 15, 2020, 04:24:47 PM
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'55 KM up for auction on Hemmings, 9/17, with reserve, current bid $3,500
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Link? How can we view it.
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The car sold for nine grand. It was missing the supercharger and related components but seemed to run ok - videos were included in the auction ad.
I'd say well sold and fairly well bought.
Go to hmn.com and click on the Hemmings Auctions button. From there you can do a search for a particular make.
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Has 54 hood ornament on it. A nice correct hood ornament sold last week on Ebay for $79. Not sure who bought it.
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Has 54 hood ornament on it.
I've heard that some of the earliest '55s still bore the '54 scoop. Don't remember who told me that.
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The '55's were re-serial numbered '54's and came to the dealers with '54 hood ornaments and the dealers were supplied with the new ornaments but some cars went out the door with the ornaments not being changed. '55 ornaments are available from Argentina as all of the Carabelas used the same ornament.
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An interesting bit of trivia. The door handles, hood ornament, headlight doors and tail light housings for the Carabela were all produced in Argentina as part of the agreement to source locally made parts where possible. The castings were made from US parts sent to Cordoba, however, no one thought to account for shrinkage in the sand cast so the end result is that Argentina made parts are ever so slightly smaller than their US made counterparts.
This came by way of a conversation with George Buchinger, a club member who went to Argentina in the 60s and bought a large stock of parts. When they arrived he compared some of the parts and made the discovery. He told me he checked with a Kaiser engineer and they confirmed his suspicions.
Put an NOS US 54 outside door handle next to one from Argentina and you can tell the difference. I found out when I installed a set of Argentina handles and they didn't quite fill the footprint in the paint left behind by the US version. That's when I contacted George and he told me of the difference.
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Yes, Gordie, the 55 hood ornaments were an after market addon by the dealers. I'm thinking the part was only the top half of the ornament. The bottom was the same. I'm the proud owner of 3 of them.
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Interesting comment on the door handles and other small bits. These were supposed to be originally die cast parts made at Doheler-Jarvis in Detroit; they also made the metal door trim piece that went in around the door windows on 1951-55 Kaisers and the Carebella. I have a photocopy of the D-J ad in AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRIES promoting the ability of die casting (including lower costs) than san casting.