1953 Kaiser Manhattan, owned by Bob & Shirley Gilzean of Chico, Ca. Photo credit: Michael Dobrin

In 1945, legendary 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. Some of these Kaiser-Frazer automobiles from the 1940s and '50s are on view at the Oakland Museum of California, in conjunction with the exhibition Henry J. Kaiser: Think Big, which continues through August 29, 2004.

From April 17 through July 11, 2004, the exhibit The Cars of Kaiser-Frazer: A Car for Everyone showcases three Kaiser Frazer automobiles in the Great Hall of the museum. The vintage cars are a gray 1949 Kaiser Vagabond, owned by Bob and Shirley Gilzean of Chico, California; a rare blue on blue 1948 Frazer Manhattan, owned by Ralph Miller of Orangevale, California; and a 1953 Kaiser Manhattan two-door sedan, owned by Bruce Kiser of Sacramento.

The Vagabond was an innovative automobile, among the first to incorporate a hatchback lift gate and drop-down tailgate, allowing the vehicle's owner to convert the four-door sedan to a spacious station wagon or all-purpose camping vehicle. The Gilzeans' Vagabond has glistening, varnished wooden bed slats to carry cargo.

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. He moved production 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.

On Sunday, April 18, the museum hosted Klassic Kaiser Karz, a free outdoor showing of Kaiser and Frazer automobiles; some 25 vehicles including a lineup of rare convertibles, top of the line Dragon sedans, and Henry J compact coupes as well as some modified Henry J racecars.

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