AMERICAN SPLENDOR - THE KAISER MANHATTAN

Sometimes – in fact, often – eBay is a place of great temptation. You begin your search with the intention of buying a new pair of driving gloves, but within an hour, you are contemplating another classic car. And when presented with the chance of bidding for a Kaiser Manhattan, this is wholly understandable.

When the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation of Michigan unveiled its line-up for 1951, many US motorists were impressed. However, the main selling point was not so much the 115bhp 3.7-litre six-cylinder engine as the bodywork that Howard ‘Dutch’ Darrin created. The Manhattan joined the range in 1952, and in the following year, the great motoring writer Tom McCahill memorably found the Kaiser as comfortable as “a wheelchair upholstered in cream puffs.” In addition, he regarded it as “one of the best all-round family cars in America today.”

But in 1953, the firm had 3,500 unsold Manhattans, and unlike Ford or GM, their dealers could not afford to sell an overproduction run at a loss. The publicity boasted that here was the first “safety-first car” complete with a pop-out front windscreen and well-padded dashboard, but Kaiser was competing with eight-cylinder rivals. Price was another issue, as the Manhattan cost nearly $200 more than an Oldsmobile Super 88. Kaiser-Frazer had wanted to use the famous 5.0-litre ‘Rocket’ V8, but negotiations with General Motors came to nothing.

As with Hudson, the buying public increasingly regarded Kaisers as niche models. 1954 saw a new grille, rear screen and fascia while, rather splendidly, the “Safety-Glo” taillights now formed fins. Even more remarkably, a centrifugal supercharger was now standard equipment on the Manhattan. Kaiser proudly boasted of:

“Power that will practically take you from under your hat! When you don’t need the extra power, you don’t pay for it - either in gasoline or extra engine weight. What’s more you are assured of sea-level performance at highest altitudes.”

The Motor Trend report of September 1954 was slightly less hyperbolic, but the reviewer seemed highly taken with the latest Manhattan:

“One hundred and forty horsepower may no longer be an electrifying figure, but it’s an impressive one from an engine that has less displacement than any other engine in its price class or in the one below it and is even smaller than a Chevrolet or a Ford V8.”

The Manhattan could accelerate from 0-60 in 15.4 seconds with Hydramatic and 15 seconds in manual/overdrive form. But most drivers still seemed to prefer ‘Rocket 88’ power, while Kaiser was already focusing its attention away from cars. The company bought Willys-Overland in 1953, and General Motors offered to acquire Kaiser’s Willow Run factory after a fire destroyed their automatic transmission plant in Livonia. The deal was completed in 1954 for $26 million.

1955 saw the last of the US-built Manhattans, but this was not quite the end of the story as Industrias Kaiser Argentina S.A made around 15,000 examples of the ‘Kaiser Carabela’ between 1958 and 1962. As for the Manhattan from eBay, it is soon to embark on new adventures. With the owner no doubt enjoying “Power-on-demand.”

With thanks to - Home | Silverstone Auctions