Vintage automobile factories

Henry J. Kaiser was a man who did not take the easy path in any of his many business ventures – He thought big and built “Liberty” ships at seven Kaiser shipyards during and after World War II. Earlier the industrialist was the principal contractor of the Hoover Dam and also formed the Kaiser Steel and Kaiser Aluminum companies and other ventures.

In 1946 Kaiser and Joseph W. Frazier became involved with the Graham-Paige Company and later purchased the assets of the old-line automaker. In 1946 the pair introduced both the new Kaiser and Frazier cars at Madison Square Gardens in New York City.

The front-wheel-drive Kaiser prototype featured unibody construction and front and rear torsion bar suspension. The advanced Kaiser, however never reached production due to the lack of time to perfect the concept, and it was later dropped. Although the conventionally designed Frazier rear-wheel-drive went into production, and sales began in 1947.

• The rear-wheel drive Frazier test chassis with a weight box mounted on the rear of the frame.

These photos show early activities at the nearly-empty Willow Run Plant, were the Kaiser-Frazier was constructed. It was a surplus defense plant situated in the Michigan town it was named after. The building was built initially for the construction of World War II aircraft by the Ford Motor Company.

These images are dated by the source to be from May of 1946 and were taken at the end of construction of the prototype rear-wheel drive Frazier “test mule” chassis and while the coachwork for one of the two pre-production automobiles was built. Later in 1946, the pair of machines were displayed at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City.

These photos are courtesy of the Ann Arbor District Library.




Courtesy of The Old Motor

 

Old man Kaiser actually got his start in constructing U.S. 2, starting in Everett and heading East back in the mid-'20s. By the time of the Great Depression, Kaiser was a major construction firm, hence why he was involved with the Six Companies, who built Hoover Dam.