1949 Kaiser Brochure

Description

This is a sales/marketing brochure for the 1949 Kaiser Special and Kaiser Deluxe models. It measures approximately 9 x 12 inches when folded and 18 x 24 when unfolded. It is an 8-panel brochure. There are color illustrations of the two Kaiser models, specifications, text, other illustrations, etc.
Kaiser Motors (formerly Kaiser-Frazer) Corporation made automobiles at Willow Run, Michigan, from 1945 to 1953. In 1953, Kaiser merged with Willys-Overland to form Willys Motors Incorporated, moving its production operations to the Willys plant at Toledo, Ohio. The company changed its name to Kaiser Jeep Corporation in 1963.
The Kaiser-Frazer Corporation was established in August 1945 as a joint venture between the Henry J. Kaiser Company and Graham-Paige Motors Corporation. Both Henry J. Kaiser, a California-based industrialist and Joseph W. Frazer, CEO of Graham-Paige, wanted to get into the automobile business and pooled their resources and talents to do so. Less than a year after Kaiser-Frazer's formation, the first Kaiser and Frazer branded automobiles were being produced at the Willow Run, Michigan, headquarters for both Kaiser-Frazer and Graham-Paige. By the end of 1946, over 11,000 cars (total Kaiser and Frazer) went out to dealers and distributors; many of them sold to retail owners. During the summer of 1948, the 300,000th car came off the production line.
In 1950, Kaiser-Frazer began production of a new compact car, the Henry J and ended production of the Frazer automobile; both makes were 1951 model year automobiles. In 1952 and 1953, Kaiser-Frazer provided Sears, Roebuck and Company with Allstate-branded automobiles that retailer sold through selected Sears Auto Centers. The cars, based on the Henry J models that Kaiser-Frazer dealers were selling, were in the Sears catalog, but the car could not be purchased by mail order.
At the 1953 New York Auto Show, Kaiser-Frazer announced it would produce a fiberglass bodied sports car, called the Kaiser-Darrin-Frazer 161 (the car had a 161 cubic inch six-cylinder engine and was designed by stylist Howard "Dutch" Darrin, who also did the 1947-48 Kaiser and Frazer as well as the 1951 Kaiser automobiles). This vehicle went into production during January 1954 and was sold as the Kaiser Darrin. Production of the Allstate ended during 1953, the last Henry J automobiles were built in late 1953 as 1954 model year cars. The sports car was in production only during the 1954 model year and the last Kaisers were produced in America during the 1955 model year. Close to 760,000 cars were produced, all makes and models, between May 1946 and September 1955.
While sales were initially strong because of a car-starved public, the company did not have the resources to survive long-term competition with the "Big Three" automakers: GM, Ford, and Chrysler. The original Kaiser-Frazer design was distinctive and fresh but the company was unable to maintain the price point it needed for long-term success. However, the company's problems started as early as 1948. That year, Joseph Frazer resigned as president of Kaiser-Frazer, but stayed in the position as a "lame duck" until April 1949 when Henry J. Kaiser's oldest son, Edgar, took Frazer's place as K-F's president. This was in part because Frazer had warned Kaiser not to tool up for 200,000 cars for the 1949 model year, realizing that they could not compete against the new cars from the big three coming out that year. Unfortunately, Kaiser did not heed the warning, saying "The Kaisers never retrench." Only 58,000 cars were sold that year. The Frazer marque was discontinued after the 1951 models. Joseph Frazer remained as a sales consultant and vice-chairman of the Kaiser-Frazer board until 1953.
At the 1953 annual stockholders' meeting, Kaiser-Frazer Corporation's name was changed by stockholder vote to Kaiser Motors Corporation. Shortly before meeting, Kaiser-Frazer's Kaiser Manufacturing Corporation division worked out a deal to purchase certain assets (and assume certain liabilities) of the Willys-Overland Corporation, makers of Willys cars and Jeep vehicles. The purchase was made by Kaiser-Frazer's wholly owned subsidiary company, Kaiser Manufacturing Corporation. After completing the acquisition, Kaiser Manufacturing Corporation changed its name to Willys Motors, Incorporated. During late 1953 and 1954, Kaiser Motors operations at Willow Run Michigan were closed down or moved to the Willys facility in Toledo, Ohio.