1953 Kaiser Car - Carolina model (One of 1,812 made)

This is my collage of photos made near Alma, New Mexico of a very rare 1953 Kaiser Carolina (Serial # K-521-1200540). Originally the company that built the car started out as the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation in 1945, the firm was reorganized in 1953 under the name Kaiser Motors Corporation after withdrawal of Joseph W. Frazer from the venture. Kaiser Motors manufactured automobiles in a number of locations around the world with the primary facility and corporate headquarters at Willow Run, Michigan.

The 1953 Kaiser Carolina conceived and built during that year only as a grasp at straws that ultimately didn't save the company, which in 1953, wasn't even called Kaiser-Frazer anymore. The auto industry was evolving at spin-top pace, with the Big Three readying to offer overhead-valve V-8 power in entry-level cars along with other conveniences. Kaiser-Frazer, meanwhile, had bled cash to the tune of a $4.7 million loss in 1952, with the books predicting more of the same. Nevertheless, the irrepressible Henry J. Kaiser sank $50 million into buying Willys-Overland in 1953, along with the struggling manufacturer's debt. That was enough to drive his partner, Joseph Frazer, out of the company, which moved to Willys-Overland's hometown of Toledo, Ohio, and renamed itself Kaiser Motors.
Kaiser, the man, reacted to all this by expanding the lineup of Kaiser automobiles for 1953. The first was the Dragon, the most expensive Kaiser ever, which resulted in just 1,277 copies being built. Having covered the top end of the market, Kaiser then rolled out the Carolina, the Dragon's opposite number, intended to attract shoppers into showrooms so they could then be steered (as surreptitious company bulletins to dealers made clear) into more expensive Kaisers such as the Manhattan and, yes, the Dragon. It didn't work. Kaiser lost $10 million in 1953, and both the Dragon and the Carolina were dumped at year's end, while the vultures began circling the remains of Kaiser's car-making operations in North America.
Records indicate that 1,812 Carolinas were built in total. Registry numbers from the Kaiser-Frazer Owners Club International show that only 17 Carolinas are known to still survive. 1953 Carolina sedans was put on the market for about $2300,as an effort to build showroom traffic, but only 1800 were sold.

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