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HomeKaiser

Kaiser

1951 Kaiser hood ornament
Design Notes

The redesigned 1951 Kaiser was not quite anatomically correct

December 4, 2025 Steve 13

(EXPANDED FROM 4/20/2023) The 1951 Kaiser was trumpeted as having “anatomic design” — that is, it was made to fit the needs of the human anatomy. Although the car’s unusually taunt body had some aesthetic […]

1951 Nash Rambler grille
Data Dive

Implosion of early-1950s compacts hints at product-proliferation dangers

April 15, 2025 Steve 12

The most significant postwar trend among independent automakers was a rush to compact cars. Between 1950 and 1953 four automakers came out with new entries. This would prove to be a double-edged sword. On the […]

1951 Packard 300
Design Notes

1951 Packard 300: The double-edged sword of an anonymous design

September 18, 2023 Steve 6

(EXPANDED FROM 2/26/2021) The above-pictured car is a 1951 Packard 300 in front of an auto shop in Northern California. The faded paint and spray-painted “For Sale” sign are good metaphors for the new-for-1951 design, […]

1949 Kaiser convertible
Design Notes

The 1949 Kaiser-Frazer’s new body styles showed the limits to innovation

March 14, 2023 Steve 12

Kaiser-Frazer deserves credit for experimenting with offbeat ideas. Unfortunately, most of them didn’t work very well. This is why the fledgling automaker is a useful case study of how trying to be “innovative” can backfire […]

1966 Chevrolet Corvette
Auto Paedia

Halo cars are popular but not always a good idea

January 8, 2021 Steve 0

Halo cars tend to quite popular — even wetness inducing — among auto enthusiasts. That’s because the mission of halo cars is mostly to generate a positive buzz about a brand rather than high sales. So […]

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