Junkyard Find: 1952 Kaiser
After checking out a bullet-riddled ’91 Mitsubishi Galant yesterday, I think it’s time to return to the inmates of the Brain Melting Colorado Yard that I visited on the Fourth of July. We’ve seen the ’48 Pontiac hearse, the ’75 Plymouth Road Runner, and the ’76 AMC Matador Barcelona so far, and today we’re going to admire a car that I’m dangerously tempted to buy for myself.
This is the greatest speedometer I’ve ever seen. Check out that font on the numerals!
All the emblems are gone, as is most of the trim, so I can’t say whether this is a Deluxe or a Manhattan (my Kaiser knowledge is spotty, but I think the low-end ’52 Virginian had a different grille).
The presence of a factory radio and automatic transmission suggests that this may be a high-rollin’ Manhattan. Kaiser-Frazer was taking a beating from the Detroit Big Three by 1952; the company’s rise and fall is chronicled in great detail by this excellent Ate Up With Motor piece.
Does this car have snakeskin door panels? How can I resist?
Pre-PRNDL automatic shifters are always interesting. This car has everything! Sorry, I couldn’t get the hood latch open, so no engine photos.
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
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Just some info on some of the previous comments. The lack of large roung bumper bullets on the ends of the "humped" bridge on the front and rear bumpers indicate it's not a Manhattan. The painted lower dash and ashtray also indicate it's not a Manhattan as those peices were chrome on a Manhattan. Radios and Hydramatic transmission were options on all models of Kaiser in 1952 so those things do not indicate which model it is. I've seen a number of 3 speed, no-radio Kaiser Manhattans. Also, it was alluded to in the original post the "low end model" in '52 was the Virginian - not true! There was a '52 Kaiser Virginian. The 1952 Virginians were those left over '51 Kaisers that had not sold by the end of the 1951 model year. To get these cars sold, Kaiser updated them with a new hood ornament and a stylish Continental spare tire on the back. The 1952 Virginian was available in standard and deluxe models as well as hatchbacks.
Still available, along with several others.