Actually, Edgar's custom Henry J has had only three owners. Edgar Kaiser, Edgar Kaiser Jr. and my father who now owns it. Dad bought it from Edgar Kaiser Jr. (we have all the paper work and affidavitts) in November 2004. He's the first person outside the Kaiser family to own it. It was the last KF car owned by the Kaiser family. What may be throwing people off is that there are two other Henry Js connected with the Kaiser family. One was Henry J Kaiser's personal car and was purchased from the Henry J Kaiser's estate in 1968 by KFOC member Bud Flanik. Bud owned the car until recently when he sold it to a member in Montana so it has had two owners since HJK owned it. The third is the one owned by Blanch Mericle - it's a 1952 and according to a phone conversation with Blanch, it was redone in 1967 for Edgar Kaiser but he never took possession of it. The true original one is a 1951 with all the features of a 1953 model and that it is the one that is now in our possession. Here's a famous photo of it -
This photo has appreared in KFOC publications more than once and it is always credited as being the car that Bud Flanik owned but it isn't. It is the one that was built for Edgar Kaiser and here are the tell tales: The one that was redone for Henry J Kaiser in 1966 has "Henry J" scripts on the fender. Edgar's car says "Corsair Deluxe", even though that model was not available till 1952. HJKs car has full stainless bright work around the windsheild, Edgar's has the single stainless strip down the center. You can't see it very well in the photo but Edgar's car has the opening rear vent windows (you can see the one on the passenger side if you look through the driver's side front windshield in the photo). HJK's car has the correct '53 hood ornament tip (with three fins) on it whereas Edgar's car has a '53 hood ornament but a '51 style plastic tip (no fins). Edgar's car had the carousels on the doors (as mentioned, they have since been removed), HJK's car didn't (doesn't). Edgar's car has "3 stripe" white wall tires where HJK's car has single stripe whitewall tires. Finally, HJK's car has the radio antenna on the passenger side and Edgar's has it on the driver's side. I don't think anyone in the club had ever seen Edgar's car as he kept it out in Hawaii and then Orcas Island. Since no one knew about it, it made sense to conclude this photo was HJK's car. Edgar's car was very obscure - It was stored in a warehouse in Seattle from about 1975 - 2004. It was during that period that it was repainted and the racing stripe and carousels were removed. It's is still in almost mint condition. My dad found the car in 1998 and made contact with Edgar Kaiser's office. Shortly thereafter, Allen Hogle did an article on the two cars in the KFOC Quarterly. In 1999 Edgar Kaiser Jr. decided to keep it and join KFOC but for some reason in 2004 he changed his mind and contacted my dad and asked if he still wanted the car. The answer was obvious. I now have it here at my place in Minneapolis. I just drove it to a rally last night and it's really an attention getter that's for sure. I took this photo last night
and you can see, with the exception of the racing stripe and carousel, it still has all the features mentioned. I will have it at the Back to the 50s show here in Saint Paul next weekend.
