Frazer Manhattan
UPDATE: Reader Alexander Jason, who makes his living as a forensic photographer, did a little forensics on Mom's photo and improved the image. The results appear at right. Thank you, sir!
It was something of a legend in our family's history, from a time before I was born, spoken of in reverent tones of the sort usually reserved for prewar Bugattis and Rolls Royces.
It was my mother's first car, a brand new 1947 Frazer Manhattan.
The one surviving photo of Mom's Manhattan in the family album reveals that it was painted black and she was quite proud of owning it. My father was said to have wrecked it in 1949, while my parents were still dating. They married in 1950 and stayed married for over fifty years, so it's clear Mom didn't hold a grudge.
For a long time, that was all I knew about Frazer Manhattans. I eventually learned more, courtesy of the "Transportation" section of the Public Library.
As World War II was winding down, steel and shipbuilding magnate Henry J. Kaiser decided to enter the auto business. He collaborated in this project with Joseph W. Frazer, who was then the president of the moribund Graham-Paige automobile company. Together, they formed Kaiser-Frazer Corporation in 1946, using Henry J's money and what remained of Graham-Paige's automotive manufacturing assets.
The new company sold autos under two nameplates, "Kaiser" and "Frazer." Their 1947 model year sedans shared a common frame, drivetrain, and body shell, with different grilles, trim, and badging to distinguish them. The Frazers were the company's up-market "senior" line, and the A-Number One, top of the list Frazer was the Manhattan.
Styled by Howard "Dutch" Darrin,
the Frazer Manhattan is a typical full-sized postwar car, with a high beltline, sculpted
front fenders, a hood that tapers to a "nose" above the grille, and a split windshield. It's the sort of car I associate with detectives in trench coats and "dames" with trouble written all over them. Even though Mom was never the film noir type, I've always thought her black Manhattan was the perfect car for the likes of Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe.
Inside is enough interior space to hold a dance party--or so it seems to those of us who came of age in the era of downsizing. The cabin has a high ceiling, the better to accommodate the well-dressed postwar man's stylish fedora. The dash is a lovely example of late-period Art Deco/Streamline design.
The Manhattan sat on a 120-inch wheelbase and weighed 3,375 pounds. It was powered by a Continental flathead inline six cylinder engine which produced 112 horsepower. In a car this size, that did not make for sprightly acceleration, but by 1946 standards the performance was competitive. The chassis was conventional for the time, with independent A-arm suspension and coil springs in the front, and a live axle with leaf springs in the rear. It's certainly not cut out for canyon-carving on Mulholland Highway, but the driving dynamics were adequate for the concrete canyons of its namesake city.
Initial sales were brisk because the Manhattan (and the other Kaisers and Frazers) hit the market before the "Big Three" could introduce their own postwar designs. That state of affairs would not last long. Kaiser-Frazer would exit the U.S. passenger car market in less than ten years due to declining sales and competitive pressure from larger manufacturers, but in late 1946 and early 1947, around the time Mom bought her car, the Frazer Manhattan was king of the hill, top of the heap.
Though I had heard the tale of Mom's Manhattan many times growing up, I did not see one in the flesh until this summer. The beautifully-restored blue Manhattan belongs to a car collector friend of mine who gave me a chance to root around in his "garage" recently. The postcard image of a Manhattan across the river from Manhattan came from the website of Ben F. Walker, a prominent member of the Kaiser-Frazier Owners Club International and former editor of its quarterly magazine.
--Cookie the Dog's Owner
Mochi Mochi on September 03, 2008 at 01:06 PM
There's so much history and personal content related to cars that never gets discussed. The car as a legend in a family is not uncommon, but the press on that is pretty thin. If Tom Waits has not included this theme in his songs and poetic stories, he should. Actually I think he did. The Frazer is a perfect fit for a Tom Waits song. So you are in good company Cookie.
(Mochi then rummages around in google, amazon, and itunes searches. Finding what he was seeking he returns with an very pleased look on his face.)
Yeah. Tom Waits wrote "The Pontiac" on his Orphans Album. Reading this is good, but you need to listen to it. I am including a link to the download of this song on Amazon. There's a preview so you can hear the delivery - its a spoken piece than needs to be heard to really make it work. You can get a longer preview on iTunes.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000YQOUHY/ref=dm_mu_dp_trk51?ie=UTF8&qid=1220471323&sr=8-1
Lyrics are listed below:
"The Pontiac" By Tom Waits
Well let's see, we had the eh, we had the Fairlane.
Then the u-joints went out on that and the bushings and then your mother wanted to trade it in on the Tornado, so we got the Tornado.
God, I hated the color of that son of a bitch.
And the dog destroyed the upholstery on the Ford.
Boy, that was long before you were born.
We called it the Yellowbird, two-door, three on the tree.
Tight little mother.
Threw a rod, sold it to Jacobs for a hundred dollar.
Now the Special eh, four-holer, you've never seen body panels lining up like that.
Overhead cam, dual exhaust.
You know I had, let's see I had, four Buicks, loved them all.
Now your Uncle Emmet, well he drives a Thunderbird, it used to belong to your Aunt Evelyn.
Now, she ruined it, drove it to Indiana with no gear oil.
That was the end of that!
Sold that Cadillac to your mom.
Your mom loved that Caddy.
Independent rear suspension,
Landau top, good tires.
Gas hog.
I swear it had the power to repair itself.
I love the old, Dan Steele used to give 'em to me at a discount.
Showroom models and that.
And then there was the Pontiac and...
God, I loved that Pontiac.
Well, it was kind of an ox-blood.
It just kinda handled so beautifully.
Yeah, I miss that car. Well, it was a long time ago, a long time ago.
Bob Sistek on September 03, 2008 at 04:34 PM
As a teen age car nut, I remember the Kaisers and Frazers. I'm old enough to remember actually servicing a Frazer at my Dad's gas station, oh so long ago. Kaiser actually produced a pretty decent sporty model that was designed by "Dutch" Darrin. I believe it may have carried the Darrin name. Not sure.
Would love to see a post on the old Henry J. That would be a hoot.
Dave S on September 03, 2008 at 04:39 PM
I had a 1949 Kaiser during my college years in the early 70s. My dad found the car in a barn on a neighbor's farm and got it running. He sold it to me and I drove it for several years. It was unique and really turned heads on the freeway. Too bad about the Continental engine. It constantly burned valves and I heard that was part of what created a bad reputation for the cars. I enjoyed your article. It took me back to a different time.
RR Ryan on September 03, 2008 at 04:58 PM
The very first song on Tom Waits' debut album is Ol' 55. The Eagles covered it on On the Border.
Robert R on September 03, 2008 at 05:01 PM
Just FYI, Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe date more from the early 1930's and even the late twenties than the post-war era.
Sure, I read too many detective novels.
David Colborne on September 03, 2008 at 05:29 PM
It always struck me as interesting how a lot of brands after World War 2, old and new, just disappeared, whether it was Packard, Kaiser, Tucker, and so on at the time when the automobile was really taking hold in the American consciousness.
Mochi Mochi on September 03, 2008 at 05:41 PM
I love the interior on this car. It's more like a sitting room than a car. The unobstructed leg room is wonderful. Gorgeous dash.
What's the deal with cars and leg room. Yeah I know bench seats are out, but not so very long ago even sports cars with sport seats had leg room that went full width on the car. Ever sit in a 70's Porsche?
Richard on September 03, 2008 at 06:13 PM
I remember one of the sixth grade teachers at school had one of the later Kaisers. They were very rare even in Southern California. Most of them would be parked under a shade tree awaiting a future "restoration" project. It was a unique looking car. Unfortunately, it had a Continental aircraft engine converted from air cooled to water cooled. The engines were engineered to run at a steady throttle speed and they gave out under the demands of running an automobile. Kaiser, Nash, and the others had a brief window of opportunity in the late 1940's. But, once the big three got their production lines going again, it was hard for the minor players to compete.
seguin on September 03, 2008 at 06:45 PM
Dave S - the sporty Kaiser was the Kaiser-Darrin roadster. Had a wierd grill on it, a "kisser". Like the last of the Manhattans (actually, they got good press for their handling due to the low center of gravity in '54 and 55) it was available with a supercharger on its flathead Continental Six. The last 50 or so bodies of the Kaiser-Darrin were bought by Darrin himself and fitted with Cadillac or Buick V-8s, which made the thing an absolute screamer.
The doors on the K-D were also interesting. They slid into the front fenders instead of opening.
Excellent article. I like the Kaiser products, except for the Henry J (unless its a gasser).
Jeff Merrinette on September 03, 2008 at 10:06 PM
I took the family on a road trip from Chicago to Jackson, Wyoming this July. We pulled into a gas station in York, Nebraska only to find a pristine '51 Kaiser Manhattan filling up next to us. Wearing the same blue paint in this article, the Mom and Pop driving this beauty were coming home from a Kaiser show in Oregon (I think?). Mom chatted with me as I filled the station wagon and told me that all their clothes were in the back seat because the trunk was full of parts! What great, brave, and nice people restore such rare relics and drive them so we all can see them as they were meant to be seen. I agree with all of you in the comments above, these were beautiful examples of post-war styling. Clean, elegant, mature design that really stands out!
Charles Martel on September 04, 2008 at 09:32 AM
I think the Frazers, or at least some of them, differed from the Kaisers in having a trunk that opened down and a rear window that opened up, like a station wagon of the day.
Cookie the Dog's Owner on September 04, 2008 at 09:51 AM
@Charles: "I think the Frazers, or at least some of them, differed from the Kaisers in having a trunk that opened down and a rear window that opened up..." -- You are referring to the Traveller, which came in both flavors and was the first hatchback. A future Car Lust topic, perhaps?
steveH on September 04, 2008 at 03:17 PM
Continental is best known for its aircraft engines, both radials and flat-opposed types, but the engine used in the Frazer wasn't one of them. They made various inline engines for cars as far back as the '20s.
All of them as dead now as their experimental X-layout aircraft engines of the mid-40s.
K. F. Owner on September 04, 2008 at 06:59 PM
Contrary to what another poster stated, the Kaiser Darrin did not have a Continental engine with a supercharger and it was not a flathead. It is true the 1954/55 Kaiser Manhattan had the same Continental engine all Kaiser and Frazer full size cars had and it was supercharged but the Kaiser Darrin used a Willys built engine, the 161 CID Willys F-head and was not available with a supercharger. The Henry J also used a Willys engine, just as the Darrin did, but the Henry J used the L-head version of the 161 CID six.
Lucien B on September 06, 2008 at 03:14 PM
A 1947 Kaiser Frazer Manhattan in extrtemely good condition sold at a Classic Car Auction in Edmonton, Alberta today for $5,800.00
It was a steal at that price. Not a scratch on the body. A 4" dia. peice of material was sewn into the becnh portion of the rear seat. That's all I could find wrong with this car.
Cream coloured bottom and brown top. came with Overdrive. NO radio.
Dennis Prichard on September 24, 2008 at 07:14 PM
My father purchased a new 1949 Kaiser Deluxe sedan in the Spring of 1949 when I was 5 years old. I recall going to the showroom and picking up the car. Between the purchase date and June of that year when we took the Kaiser on a 3 week roundtrip from western Pennsylvania to Los Angeles, California, my father rigged up a simple cruise control for it using doorbell buttons, cable, and electric motors under the hood. He mounted a wood block on the steering column to hold the door bell buttons. Press the top button and the cable increased acceleration. You kept the button down until the car was going as fast as you wanted. Unfortunately the driver had to plan ahead quite a bit to deaccelerate because the only way to do it was press the lower button to unwind the cable. Of course, in a pinch the driver could quickly push in the clutch or shift into neutral. He was quite happy with the performance of both the car and the cruise control on that trip. The car cruised easily at 95 mph through western states that had no speed limit in those days. My mother was not crazy about the cruise control. Crossing the rocky mountains we saw many cars waiting for hot engines to cool down along the road but the Kaiser never had a cooling problem. On very hot days we would stop and purchase dry ice that we wrapped in towels and hung from the inside of the car windows. Cool air would flow out much like today's air conditioning. The Kaiser remained our family car until 1956 when it was traded on a new Ford Ranch Wagon with a 202 Thunderbird V-8. The Kaiser was a pretty good car but the engine did kind of wimp out early on. I recall a much needed engine overhaul about 1953. The Kaiser was very, very weak on the hills of western Pennsylvania before and after the overhaul. I do recall one steep hill in my hometown that the Kaiser would not even climb in low gear. We had to turn around and go up in reverse! We always kind of figured the California trip did the car in.
Logan on October 26, 2008 at 09:21 PM
Just thought I would put in my 2 cents worth. Very enjoyable article, nice photographs and good information. The 1947 Frazer (and Kaiser) rode on a 123 1/2 inch wheel base (not 120)--long enough to ensure a very comfortable ride for both front and back seat passengers (who rode ahead of the rear axle). No, they did not convert an aircraft engine, but yes it was a modified Continental engine--the Red Seal, 226.2 cu, and it did have some problems at first, especially the versions built by Continental, but the engines built by K-F were actually very solid (K-F used both their own version of the engine and ones manufactured by Continental. The problem was that the latter had some quality control problems). Some overheating could occur, valves could wear out prematurley and vapor lock was a problem until about 1952-1953. Incidentally, Richard M. Langworth in "The Last Onslaught on Detroit" (great K-F history), quotes an enthusiast who says "with good oil, soft piston rings (not chrome) and reasonable driving habits, you can actually get a half-million miles of life [i.e. out of the Continental]" (page 121). By the last years--1954 & 1955--equiped with the supercharger, the engines were not only reliable, but quite competitive power-wise, especially since Kaisers were lighter than most other cars on the road, giving them a favorable power to weight ratio.
One last thing: one unique feature of the Frazer pictured here is that its instrument panel is back-lit in blue. I have spoken to an old K-F veteran who told me how pleasurable it was to drive at night with the gentle, soft blue glow of the instrument panel.
on October 27, 2008 at 03:47 PM
I own a1948 Kaiser which I still use almost every day, I find that it is a very nice car,with not a lot of problems,I drive it about 10,000 miles a year,not bad for a sixty year old car. Harry