Kaiser frazer
$25 million was to finance Kaiser-Frazer's heavy inventory of leftover '49 models, and the loan was approved because around $12 million was set aside for the new compact. Kaiser borrowed $69 million from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in 1949 so he could fulfill his promise of a new car that all Americans could afford. He sectioned 18 inches from a 1951 Kaiser club coupe that looked great in the showroom, but management instead chose the ungainly 1951-54 styling which came from a Kaiser-Frazer supplier. Dutch Darrin, a designer had originally proposed something like his impressive 1951 Kaiser and he came up with a prototype at his Santa Monica, California. Though slightly dated, the Henry J was a highly functional small sedan that was considered to be an ‘ugly' vehicle by most. The Henry J at least was responsible for stabilizing Kaiser-Frazer's then shaky finances for a short time. The Kaiser-Frazer Henry J was introduced in early 1950 as America's second postwar compact. The Kaiser-Frazer Corporation was renamed Kaiser Motors Corporation in 1952 and continued to build passenger vehicles until 1955. Frazer eventually left the company in 1951 and the Frazer nameplate was dropped after a short 10,000 unit production run. In 1949 the market for K-F products slowed considerably, with the introduction of new designs from the Big Three, Kaiser pushed for more production creating a oversupply of vehicles that took until mid-1950 to sell. Kaiser had no automotive marketing experience, while Frazer did, and was the more pragmatic one of the team. Displaying their prototype of their two newest cars at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in N.Y., the Kaiser was of an advanced front wheel design while the Frazer was an upscale conventional rear wheel drive vehicle.
The company combined the diminishing assets of the former Graham-Paige Motor Company. Kaiser of Kaiser Company/Kaiser Industries. Founded on July 25, 1945, the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation was a result of a partnership between automobile executive Joseph W.