Car of the Week: 1953 Kaiser Manhattan

Rob Borman knew his 11-year-old self would never forgive him.

A few years back, the Aurora, Ill., resident had found the type of car — a gorgeous 1953 Kaiser Manhattan — he’d always been looking for in the car corral at the Iola Car Show in Wisconsin. But before Borman could fully talk himself into making the purchase, the car and owner disappeared.

“We had gone out to the car corral and this car was sitting there and nobody was looking at it,” recalled Borman. “A friend of mine who has a ’54 [Kaiser] with a supercharger on it says, ‘Nobody is looking at this car? You’ve gotta be kidding me!’ They were looking at some ratty Fords and Chevys that were sitting around, and we were like, ‘For an extra 3 grand, you could have this!’”

The 1953 Manhattan had its own unique look and Kaiser lovers can spot one from a mile away — but they are scarce enough today that Rob Borman still gets lots of puzzled looks when he shows up in his lovely four-door sedan.

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The owner of the car got busy talking with other show-goers and Borman didn’t get to discuss the car with him initially. He decided to leave and mull things over. He came back later, and to his horror, the car and owner were both gone.

“It was a Friday, and I figured they’d be there for the weekend, but the guy was only coming for Friday! But I took a bunch of photos, and luckily I took a photo of his for sale sign, so I had his number!”

Borman said he was kicking himself on the ride home and decided to stop and call the seller. To his delight, the car had gone unsold, and he immediately agreed to buy it over the phone.

The purchase scratched an itch that Borman said he had been dealing with since he was young. While a lot of kids his age were pining for Mustangs, Corvettes and Trans Ams, he was locked in on long-lost 1950s orphans — Kaisers, Frazers and their ilk.

“Collectible Automobile [magazine] came out in the early ’80s, and I was a young kid at that time, and Dad and I would go to the Chicago Automobile Show….And vendors would sell stuff there and one of them sold books and things. One of the few times I actually bought something I wound up getting a subscription. Well, the issue came out with the Kaisers in it, this body style it, and the centerfold was the ’53 Dragon from that Chicago Auto show … all dolled up. I was probably 11, 12, and I was like, ‘Dad, Dad, I love this!’ He said I’ll never be able find one, and I’ll probably never be able to afford them. But I always had it in the back of my head. I always loved them.”

“Then when we saw this one in the car corral, it was like ‘I can afford that, and I have space for that!’ I just wish I didn’t wait so long!”

The interior is of this ‘53 Manhattan is truly unique, with a vinyl material designed to look like bamboo covering the door panels, dash and sides of each seat.

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The instrument arrangement was also unique, with one large pod in the middle, four other gauges arranged in a fan shape and some funky numbers on the circular speedometer. The column shifter operated an automatic transmission.

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KAISER MEETS FRAZER

Following World War II, shipbuilding magnate Henry J. Kaiser turned his attention to building automobiles, and teamed up with Graham-Paige executive Joseph Frazer to help him. The pairing proved to be a rocky one, but Kaiser-Frazier did succeed initially by beating the major makes into production of an all-new postwar car. The new unique-looking, straight-sided Kaisers quickly gained a following from buyers who appreciated their unusual design and more than 70,000 1947 models rolled off the Kaiser Willow Run, Mich. plant that had formerly been operated by Ford.

Predictably, however, other automakers began to catch up and Kaiser-Frazer’s head start didn’t last. A big loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corp. helped keep the company afloat, and the cash helped Kaiser launch the memorable Darrin sports car — designed by company design mastermind Dutch Darrin — cool hatchback sedans called the Vagabond and Traveler, and a luxury model it dubbed the Dragon.

The V-8 revolution hadn’t yet arrived in the American automobile industry in 1953, and the Manhattan made due with Kaiser’s mainstay 226.2-cid inline six.

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From 1947-51, Kaiser and Frazer operated in tandem and the premium Manhattan model was a Frazer. The Frazer line was dropped in 1951 and all the Kaisers were restyled by Darrin and Duncan McCrea. The Manhattan’s windshield had a steep and both the front and rear glass had a unique center dip. The rear quarter windows had a reverse design, and the previously bland body sides were given sculpted panels with the calling card “Darrin dip” on the doors. And there was glass — lots of glass! The Manhattans were perhaps the closest things anyone on this continent had yet see to “rolling greenhouses.”

Cosmetic changes came in 1952 in the form of one-piece windshields, wraparound tail lamps, slightly thicker grille bars in front, V-shaped hood badges and integrated parking lamps. For ’53, there were a few more updates, including wide chrome trim that wrapped around the cars’ lower bodies, and new tailfins that rested on top of the rear fenders.

On the exterior, the Manhattans featured a wide chrome molding below the beltline and small chrome “fins” mounted on top of the rear fenders.

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No denying that this is a Kaiser Manhattan as seen by the fender emblem

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The Manhattans were offered as four-door sedans and two-door club sedans for 1953. A four-door Traveler Utility sedan was apparently also in the plans, but it appears none were built. The club coupe was dropped from the lineup. The four-door sedan was by far the most popular for 1953 with production of 18,603 units and a price of $ 2,650. Only 2,342 of the club sedans were produced at $ 2,597. All of the Manhattans shared the same 226.2-cid L-head six-cylinder — an engine that had earned a solid reputation for both its power and durability.

For 1954, Kaiser Motors bought out Willys-Overland, which had been building cars in Toledo, Ohio. The company became known as Kaiser-Willys, and soon all production was shifted to Toledo and the Willow Run plant was sold to General Motors.

In 1955, Kaiser-Willys shifted its focus to building Jeeps and produced only about 210 cars for sale in the U.S. Another 1,021 were reportedly built for sale in Argentina. Production assets were eventually shipped shipped to Argentina, where Kaiser built a car called the Carabella for another seven years.

LOVABLE ‘ODDBALL’

Borman had been led to believe when he bought it that his ’53 Manhattan had been fully restored at some point. After some experience with the car, and some investigating, he found out that was probably only partially true. The man who owned the car previously lived in the Milwaukee, Wis., area and hadn’t had the car very long. Beyond that, the car’s history was a bit of a mystery. It had a little 80,000 miles on the odometer, was is in fantastic shape and the color had been changed from the original green to a non-factory combination of Aston Martin Sherwood Green over Aston Martin Buckingham Green.

Another cool Kaiser touch which is subtle and elegant

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“The guy had bought [in this condition] and I think it was due for a set of tires. The tires that were on it were put on when it was restored,” Borman concluded. “Well, as I was cleaning out the car I found out two sets of plates in the car that were 5, 6 years old … I think I know where it came from. There was a big Kaiser Frazier collector in Iowa who passed away and pieces of his collection got sold, and I believe this is one of them. It was a really nice car. I drive the snot out of my stuff, and the more I drove it the more things came up, so I knew this car had been sitting. Like I went to a show and the brakes locked up…. Just all stuff from leaving it sit. I had overheating issues really bad, and I knew something was going on. I flushed it out and there shouldn’t have been that much junk in this engine being a rebuilt engine.”

“So basically, I think it was just a cosmetic refresh. The interior is all original. It’s got the original floors in it and the original trunk floor. All the glass is original … I think somebody cleaned it up and did some painting … and some chrome plating.”

Beyond fixing a little issue with his tire inflation, Borman says he has pretty much solved all the Kaiser’s little bugs. He added a spotlight and exterior mirrors, but at this point, the Manhattan is so wonderfully preserved and so fully loaded, there’s not much left to do besides maintain it.

“The only thing is I’m having some trouble with the tubes in the wire wheels,” he said. “Somebody used duct tape [instead or rim tape] on the rims, and that was deteriorating. I had new tires and tubes in it, and all of a sudden I started getting flats!”

Borman also has some new correct carpeting for the floors that still needs to go in.

“I have it, but I still haven’t put it in yet. That’s the only thing in the interior that’s not original.”

For all their good qualities, and uniquely handsome looks, Kaisers never sold in quantities great enough to keep up with the competition. Borman figures maybe he was just born a couple decades too late, because he’d have been one of the guys ogling them when they were new.

Rob Borman behind he wheel of his Manhattan

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“The way this thing is decked out, all the options and being a Manhattan, you could have had a cheap Cadillac,” he says. “You were somebody if you had one of these!”

“People aren’t out there looking to buy these. You have to be a guy like me that drooled over them when they were 11. I’m 52 now and I still love the oddball stuff.”

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