Number plate proves the car’s Canadian origins.

The T in the serial number indicates it was built in Toronto.

   The story of Kaiser-Frazer Corp. isn’t well known, even among old car hobbyists, and the fact the company built cars in Canada as well as the U.S. is even less familiar. But K-F built about 1,000 cars in Toronto – virtually all of them 1951 four-door Kaiser sedans – at the Reo truck factory in Leaside. The cars were assembled from components shipped to Canada from the big K-F plant in Willow Run, Mich.
   Unfortunately, the business agreement between Reo and Kaiser ended with just one 1952 model assembled because Reo needed all of the factory’s floor space to build new trucks that had been ordered by the Canadian Army for use in the Korean war.
   It’s not often that you run across one of these made-in-Canada Kaisers, but one popped up in an ad in the latest monthly newsletter of the Kaiser-Frazer Owners Club International.
   So I called the owner, Bob Northcott, in Calgary to find out more.
The car is an all-original Kaiser Special still wearing the Cape Verde green paint applied at the Leaside factory. About 10 years ago Bob bought the car from his late father, Ronald, in Dundas, Ont., and it has quite an interesting story – as most automotive survivors do.
   The Kaiser was bought new by an Ontario school teacher on Manitoulin Island. As Bob’s mom Audrey recalls, “the teacher slid off the road and into the lake one frosty morning” shortly after buying the car. She had it fished out and towed to a local repair shop where they straightened a dented left front fender. But the teacher just left in in the shop, where it sat for years and years.

1951 Kaiser Special 4-door sedan still in its original paint.

   The Northcotts first heard of the car in the early 1970s, but it was sold to someone in Sudbury before they made the decision to buy it. Those new owners put most of the 16,000 original miles on the car in the few months they owned it before the Northcotts tracked it down and added it to their old car collection.
   Audrey says she even drove the Kaiser “a few miles” to work for a while, but basically it sat in the Northcotts’ garage for another two decades.
About 10 years ago, Ronald thought it would be a good father-son project for Bob and his boy, Ryan, out in Calgary. So Bob bought the Kaiser from his dad and had it shipped by train to Alberta. He drove it home from the rail yard, but Ryan was into monster trucks and wasn‘t interested. “My son wanted to chop it about five years ago,” Bob says, but luckily nothing has been done to the Kaiser except to start it regularly.
   “The straight 6 engine (a 226 cubic inch Continental) runs beautifully,” says Bob. “Basically it’s been garaged all its life, so there’s no rust. The interior isn’t worn out, because it hasn’t been sat in a lot,” but like the rest of the car the interior is in need of total restoration.
   The chrome also needs to be redone, but the good news is there’s not a lot of it – extra brightwork was a feature of Kaiser’s more upscale Deluxe model back in ’51.
   In the old car business it’s popularity, not rarity, that usually governs the price of a vehicle and Bob knows his Kaiser, as scarce as it is, isn’t worth a lot of money. I think he’s got it priced just about right at $4,800 or best offer. If you’re interested, call him at 403-269-5525.
   These old Kaisers ride and handle better than most cars of the era and the ’51 Special would be a worthwhile project for anyone interested in the history of auto manufacturing in Canada. Ideally, it belongs in a museum.

Write to Glen at glenwoodcock@canoemail.com

Odometer shows just over 16,000 original miles.