The other 55 Kaisers

[Carpenter]

If 229 were assembled and we have only 36 on the registry...where are the others?

[Gordie]

They have probably been junked over the years.  No one was aware that they would be sought after seventy years after they were built.  They were not collectible for many years.

[Carpenter]

That's awful.  Wonder how many of the 54s are still around?

[r1lark]

You also need to think about what percentage of the surviving 1955 Kaisers may be listed in the Registry.

If only 50% of the surviving cars are in the Registry, then there are 72 surviving out of the 229. If only 25% are listed in the Registry, then there are 144 surviving out of the 229. (Hopefully my math is correct  , and understand that this is just a "what if".)

From my experience on the Studebaker side, only a relatively small percentage of the owners usually get their cars listed on a Registry. Some don't like others to know what they have, others don't even know there is a club, and others don't even care. Of course, there are exceptions to this - Avantis for example have been the benefit of a very significant effort to find and list the surviving cars as well as the salvaged/parted out cars. The original Shelby Cobras are probably another example. High value cars like Cobras will have a high percentage of existing cars known since being listed on the Registry would most likely be considered as a 'verification' of authenticity and would be important for the owners' investments. I would bet that Darrins have a significantly higher percentage of cars listed/know, because of their much higher value.

It would be interesting to find out what the Kaiser/Frazer/Darrin Registry keepers' estimates would be of what percentage of the surviving cars are listed on the Registries.

I would not be surprised if a higher percentage of '55 Kaisers might have survived than earlier yeas of Kaisers. Again, I use a Studebaker example - there seem to be a higher percentage of 1964 GT Hawks surviving than the '62 and '63 GT Hawks. Many chalk this up to the '64s being the 'last of the breed' of Hawks. (I'm sure y'all are tired of me using Studebaker examples, but I know a lot more about them. I'm still learning about K-F's and don't own one -- yet  .

Of course, this is all my opinion only. Other opinions & comments are of course welcome - this is how we learn and gain insight.

[Roadmaster49]

That's awful.  Wonder how many of the 54s are still around?

Every 54 ever made is still around.    That's my story.  When you see KF's for sale, there is a disproportionate number of 54's still around. 

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

It seemed there was an interest in saving the 1954's around the time the KFOCI started in 1959 and a lot of cars (between 30-50% of Manhattan  production) was saved either with original drive trains or addition of a V-8 engine (I even saw one in a junk yard with a late 1940's vintage Oldsmobile 6!).  the 1953 Manhattans also have a lopsided survival rate compared to the "typical" 70 year old automobile brand/model/bodytype, etc.  Darrins are another car with out of proportion survival counts.  The typical survival rate is figured nowsays around <1% of production.  For a 1954 Kaiser Manhattan, more than  50 cars would be higher than you should expect.