The 1947 Kaiser Special dates from a time of shining possibilities for its manufacturer . Ambitious , tight - moving California industrialist Henry Kaiser had teamed up with savvy Detroit veteran Joseph Frazer to do the seemingly insufferable – crack the U.S. car industry " golf club " epitomized by the Big Three of General Motors , Ford , and Chrysler . If it could n’t beat ‘em , Kaiser - Frazer Corporation would have been quite content to join ‘em .
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The fourth dimension could n’t have been more ripe to attempt such an insolent thing . With car product halted during the World War II years , pent - up requirement for new vehicles in peacetime was expected to be wonderful . Ensconced in Ford ’s former wartime B-24 hero sandwich plant in Willow Run , Michigan , K - F was produce Kaisers and passably costlier Frazers by the summertime of 1946 – this despite time lost in an abortive endeavor to enclose the Kaiser with front - wheel private road . The following yr , the two brand ' combined product made K - F the fourth - large automaker in the state .
But the high - flying times would n’t last . When Kaiser borrowed heavily in expectancy of bad - volume production for 1949 , a wary Frazer walk away . The last of his namesake cable car were made in 1951 .
The gleaming crust of the 1947 Kaiser Special picture here is a metaphor in metal for K - Fs prospects in its early Clarence Shepard Day Jr. . One of 65,062 built for the model twelvemonth ( plus another 5,412 later - arriving Customs ) , it is original in all but paint , which has been resprayed to match its factory hue . Clear - credit card rear end cover now preserve the pin - striped material upholstery .
Underhood is the 226 - Criminal Investigation Command Continental - built L - head six that power Kaisers and Frazers . It made 100 H.P. in the 1947 Special . In the featured railcar , it is hooked to a Borg - Warner three - speed transmittance with optional overdrive .
This Kaiser Special has been a Kaiser - Frazer Club accolade victor , and accessories like the radiocommunication and heater all work .
