Kaiser in Argentina

Kaiser continued as Industrias Kaiser Argentina S.A.

   In January 1955, the government of Argentina and the failing  Kaiser Corporation signed an agreement to permit Kaiser to manufacture automobiles and trucks in Argentina. As Kaiser in the USA concentrated on their Willys Jeep products, their Kaiser  manufacturing equipment was shipped to Argentina.

   Kaiser first shipped 1,021 complete Kaisers, manufacturing equipment, and spare parts to Argentina to start their sales establishment. Groundbreaking for the new factory in the city of Santa Isabel in Córdoba Province was held in March 1955 with the first vehicle driven out on 27 April 1956.

  The initial production was of various Jeeps, such  as the  Willys Jeep Truck (renamed "Baqueano") pick-up, and the Willys Jeep Station Wagon or "Estanciera" as well as a panel delivery version known as the "Utilitario." These utility vehicles were shortly followed by a local version of the Kaiser Manhattan 4-door sedan, called the "Carabela.  The combined Carabela-Jeep production of 22,612 units was 81% of all vehicles manufactured in Argentina in 1958.

   In 1959, the French firm of Renault invested in IKA,  and the small Renault Dauphine was added to production.  But IKA wanted something sized between the little Dauphine and the big Carabela, so it approached Alfa Romeo about buying the tooling for its 1951-'58 1900 sedan. A deal was struck, and in 1960 the car went into production as the Kaiser Bergantin (Brigantine). It was an interesting mix: an Alfa Romeo 1900 body with some styling updates, powered by a locally built Willys four-cylinder engine. The following year, the Kaiser-Willys (ex- Continental) six-cylinder 115-hp engine was also available, though in low numbers.

  The Kaiser Bergantin was quite a good-looking car, as sedans go. Riding upon a 103.5-inch wheelbase, it was also a perfect size, being right between the Carabela's longer 118.5-inch wheelbase and the Dauphine's shorter 89.3-inch wheelbase. To update the looks, the Alfa's vertical shield-style grille was replaced by a horizontal grille that ran full width between the front fenders, with a smaller air inlet resting above it to cover up the space where the top of the Alfa grille had terminated.

   Bergantin production lasted only until February of 1962. Sources claim the company ran into production problems because the Alfa Romeo body dies were pretty worn out by the time IKA acquired them. The plant struggled to build a quality product with substandard tooling until it finally had to give up. That same year, production of the Carabela also ended. The Bergantins and the Carabelas were thus the final Kaiser cars produced.

     In future years, IKA continued with both Renault and Ford in primary control.

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*Cartrix is an Argentinean range of simple and inexpensive 1/43rd scale handbuilt models. The body is made of a piece of solid resin, and the wheels do not turn. The models are made by Vainilla22, a model car shop in Buenos Aires.

(Information from a variety of sites on the web.)