The Kaiser Darrin

For a well written and illustrated account of the Kaiser Darrion, see   https://silodrome.com/kaiser-darrin-car/

   When Howard “Dutch” Darrin looked at Kaiser’s economical small Henry J (named in a contest for company president Henry J. Kaiser), he saw a platform for one of his dreams, an American sports car.  And with the help of fiberglass pioneer Bill Tritt, in a few 1953 months Dutch had a drivable prototype.

   Henry J. Kaiser didn’t like it, but his wife did.  And so the Kaiser Darrin came to life, and it was announced publicly several weeks before Chevrolet’s Corvette.  But Corvette had Chevrolet (sales, design, and lots of dollars) and the Kaiser Darrin had a failing company, a new technology, and a floundering sales force.  Only some 435 Kaiser Darrins would be produced. 

   For those of us who were around in 1954, it remains a memorable car.

   Here are mine.

  The Brooklin, from several years ago,  is the standard, in my opinion.  Its dimensions ring true, the detailing is decent, and the execution meets the standards that we Brooklin fans have grown to expect.  The little guy behind the wheel hangs around here, but he's been in that red sports car for a long time and I'm not going to remove him. The mirrors in the fenders were awfully small, but they haven't broken over the years.

   The white True Dimensions was a much more expensive product, and it shows in the finer detailing, especially in the removable roof.  That roof was a Dutch Darrin design, and was fully collapsible into a hidden position, fairly easy to raise into a nearly-rainproof cover, (If you installed the windows from the trunk) and also had the option shown here- the semi-open stance to show off the chrome landau bars.  

   Third is the yellow product of a Mikansue kit from their Americana series, which I constructed several years ago.  This kit does something different . . . its body was cast with the driver's door in its open position, all slid into the front fender.  This also could be done on the passenger side in the 1:1, but Mikansue didn't go that far.  This configuration also suggests that getting in and out of the KD, especially with the roof raised, may have been a wee bit difficult.

   A few more photos, just for fun:

And a last reminder that there are still possibilities out there:

Enjoy!

     David H