Biography of Joseph W. Frazer

[dragondust]

Outside of articles on K-F and the two major books, does anyone know of a book-format biography of Joseph Washington Frazer?

[Gordie]

Joseph Frazer was a major player in several car manufacturers including General Motors, Chrysler, Willys, Kaiser-Frazer, Rototiller tractors and other investments including Madison Square Gardens in New York City.  You can pick up bits and pieces of his history in the books about the histories of those manufacturers but I do not know of a book exclusively on his life.  It would be good reading.  He was known as a master salesman in his day and he certainly new the ins and outs of manufacturing automobiles.  If only Henry Kaiser had listened to his advice the outcome of the K-F Corporation might have been far different.

[dragondust]

You are certainly on the mark. Kaiser's inability to accept "retrenching" in 1949 exhausted the company's resources and proved that, once again, in the long-run a company must be capitalized to the fullest. Even with initial glowing sales, time becomes the final balancing act. True, Kaiser's ability to keep things rolling along was ingenious, but Frazer knew much more about the manufacture and sale of automobiles. It amazes me that no one has undertaken writing a definitive biography of this true giant among American industrialists. I'm ready...if there is a grant out there!

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

If you do legal type research (you are looking for the final decision in Federal Appeals Court that closed out Pergement V. Frazer et. al in the Southeastern Michigan District) you will find that the judge's decision includes (at the end) the suggestion that Pergament & the other plaintiffs in the case sue Joseph W. Frazer for improper business practices during the time he was President of Kaiser-Frazer.  More details on this are in my book BUILT TO BETTER THE BEST.

The auto industry was changing fast at the end of World War II.  Kaiser-Frazer Corporation had to sell well over 100,000 cars a year to come close to breaking even.  Production for all of Calendar 1949 came to under 70,000 cars, lower than even Joe Frazer's reduced expectations to hopefully break even.  The dealers for various reasons didn't order cars.  Frazer cars were available for any dealer or distributor wanting them but after early calendar 1949, production records show little if any demand from the dealer network.  Nobody counted on the fact that 4,750 dealers could not sell on average, 1 new Kaiser OR Frazer car a week for the period of the 1949 model year.  Nobody expected that in the fall of 1949, the inventory reports sent to the factory by dealers would show several hundred dealers had no new cars in inventory and no new cars on order!  Yet that was the state of affairs with the dealers.

[dragondust]

Jack, I am all too aware of this as well documented in your book--which I re-read almost nightly. But, from negative situations, a positive arises once and awhile. To wit...there would have been no 1951 Frazer without the huge un-sold inventory in the body bank. And, to me, it is the most handsome full-size car K-F ever devised.

[JFerriss]

I do not know of a book format biography of Joseph Frazer, however you might find it interesting to check out the October 4, 1988 issue of Collectible Automobile. In that issue is a lengthy feature by Richard Langworth on the Frazer car as well as being concluded by an interview with Joseph Frazer towards the end of his life. This feature is 24 pages in length and is worth getting your hands on. I have a copy that issue of Collectible Automovile but have not searched for its availability online but you might be still able to find one.

[JFerriss]

I might also add that a few years back Tom Morganti had produced a brochure on the Frazer automobile and it still might be available. If you message me I can give you his email.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

My first  K-F product was a 1951 F5151 Frazer 4-door sedan and I really liked the car.  It was also the first (and only) model year where the Frazer looked distinctively different from the Kaiser automobile and that helped it even more.  It is unfortunate that the RFC boxed Kaiser-Frazer into a corner when it came to what the company could build in the 1951 model year and that the RFC and the WPB boxed them in on selling prices.

Mr. Frazer accomplished a lot of neat things in his career and no doubt Willys-Overland would never have come back from its position in the late 1930's if he hadn't been at the helm.  As for the court matter, in retrospect he wasn't doing anything that other executives did at the various firms they helped run.  He just got caught.

[Gordie]

Vol 1 No. 1 of the Milestone Car Society magazine is almost entirely about Joseph Frazer and Frazer cars.  It was issued  for Summer 1972 and the articles were written by Richard Langworth.  The first 19 pages are about Frazer and it is a very interesting read.  I just bought a copy on line for a very reasonable price so they are available.

[dragondust]

Wow, I used to have a full collection, and gave them all away. I remember the feature now, so it's off to E-Bay. Thanks so much for the tip!