History of Kaiser

In 1945 California industrialist Henry J. Kaiser partnered with automobile executive Joe Frazer to respond to the American consumer's postwar demand for cars, mounting the last real American challenge to Detroit's Big Three automakers.

They produced cars like 1949 Kaiser Vagabond, 1948 Frazer Manhattan, 1953 Kaiser Manhattan two-door sedan, the Dragon sedans, and Henry J compact coupes as well as some modified Henry J race cars. The Kaiser and Frazer Manhattan series were mainstays of the company lineup.

Kaiser and Frazer automobiles were manufactured at Kaiser's Willow Run, Michigan, factory from 1946 to 1955, when declining sales forced the closing of Kaiser's domestic operations.

At that time production was moved to Argentina and Brazil, where the company turned out a series of sedans, trucks and Jeeps until the company was sold to a combine of Ford and Renault owners in the late 1960s.