A Signature Disappointment

A small company in an established field really needs two things to go their way: an innovative idea and a bit of good luck and timing. The Kaiser-Frazer Corporation had one of those in the early 1950s.

The firm was created in 1947 when industrialist Henry J. Kaiser partnered with automobile executive Joseph W. Frazer to purchase the assets of Graham-Paige, a car company that stemmed from 1927 and which Frazer had been running. The ensuing Kaiser-Frazer Corporation became the only car firm formed following World War II; even if it was for a very brief time.

Being born after the war, Kaiser-Frazer were rolling out brand new designs in 1947 while the rest of Detroit was still marketing their pre-war models. This benefited the company to some degree as they appeared to be new and fresh sitting there on the show room floor. After a couple of years the Big Three started rolling out new designs of their own and the demand for Kaiser-Frazer cars began to wan.

In an effort to offset this the company planned to manufacture an inexpensive car to a hungry market. The idea was to sell a brand new car to those people who would have been in the market for a used model. But in order to do this the company had to make a deal with the devil: they got a Federal government loan that came will all sorts of restrictions.

The car was the Henry J., a model Kaiser wanted to represent the company the same way the Model T had done for Ford years before. While it was inexpensive those savings came at the cost of many things Americans didn't really think of as luxuries. For example, there was no trunk lid as people would have to fold down the rear seat to stow items there. The rear windows were fixed, there was no passenger sun visor, nor was there a glove compartment. While the price was right for many Americans they soon learned that Chevy, Ford and Chrysler were making cars that had these creature comforts for just a few dollars more.

After a year Kaiser-Frazer started offering these items as accessories which put it at or above the cost of the competitors of the Big Three. Still, the company pressed on and marketed the Henry J. as an economical alternative that got 25 miles per gallon. Of course, at the time gas was selling for 27 cents per gallon and economy wasn't a major issue for most folks.

For those reasons as well as a poor distribution arm, the Henry J. saw marked declines in its sales numbers each year it was sold. The first year it captured over one and one-third percent of the market. The following year sales dropped to about two-on hundredths of one percent. In 1953 the last of the Henry Js rolled off the line and those that were left over from that year were sold as 1954 models.The Henry J. seen here is a 1951 model.

Kaiser-Frazer bought Willys-Overland in 1953 and changed their name to Kaiser-Willys. By 1970 when American Motors bought them up they were marketing as Kaiser Jeep. By this time the company had long since stopped manufacturing cars bearing the Kaiser name. But for a short, though unsuccessful run, Kaiser put his signature on one specific model, the Henry J.