…post about those ‘53-‘54 Kaisers. I was nine when I saw my first Kaiser, a ‘54 as I remember the grille. I remember it was a pretty pastel color, a pale green I think it was. It belonged to someone visiting the folks living across the street from our house. I recall seeing only three others in all the years since then, a black ‘51 in Winchester, Virginia, a green one in Kilmarnock, Virginia, and a beige one on Martha’s Vineyard. I have managed to acquire all the colors of the 53-‘54 Kaisers that Brooklin did.
I think that black and white photos tend to minimize the lack of chrome detail so here are two, a ‘53 in Onyx Black and a ‘54 in Forest Green Poly.
I’m glad Brooklin did these and many other ordinary cars that were part of the landscape during the ‘50’s.
…post about those ‘53-‘54 Kaisers. I was nine when I saw my first Kaiser, a ‘54 as I remember the grille. I remember it was a pretty pastel color, a pale green I think it was. It belonged to someone visiting the folks living across the street from our house. I recall seeing only three others in all the years since then, a black ‘51 in Winchester, Virginia, a green one in Kilmarnock, Virginia, and a beige one on Martha’s Vineyard. I have managed to acquire all the colors of the 53-‘54 Kaisers that Brooklin did.
I think that black and white photos tend to minimize the lack of chrome detail so here are two, a ‘53 in Onyx Black and a ‘54 in Forest Green Poly.
I’m glad Brooklin did these and many other ordinary cars that were part of the landscape during the ‘50’s.
I don't even recall having seen a Kaiser in my entire life other than books. They should have been very popular in your hometown.
I don't even recall having seen a Kaiser in my entire life other than books. They should have been very popular in your hometown.
When referring to lack-luster sales of Kaisers, I believe the otherwise very successful Henry Kaiser once said something like, "If they had a Buick nameplate on them, they would've sold like hot cakes..." There's some truth to that; they were nicely styled & well-built cars but just never caught on.
I love every one of and have all of the Kaisers models that Brooklin did. Fortunately for me, being in Michigan and living close to the Willow Run factory for many years. The Kaiser influence is very much still in the area. I've seen more than a dozen of these wonderful cars. I've even had the opportunity to ride in two of them. The Kaiser had come and gone before I was born, but they've always held a fascination for me.
@chris, their biggest obstacle was the lack of a powerful enough engine. The cars were painfully slow, beautiful but slow. But, there was also a market that, while booming for a few years immediately after the war because of the pent-up demand and the euphoria of victory, began to settle in the early fifties. There were a lot of makers churning out cars, many of them relatively new...all of them competing for the same dollars. I believe folks sensed a shake-out coming. Weak dealer networks, limited marketing and product development funds, questionable quality, and far too much variety...they all contributed to a sense that some makers were doing great and others were struggling to keep up, maybe even survive. By '53 or '54, there were several "also-rans," and the public began avoiding them. None of them carried the prestige of a Lincoln, Imperial, or Cadillac, and none conveyed the allure those halo nameplates conferred on the rest of the lineups. By the mid-fifties, the outliers were on life support.
