For Sale: 1951 Kaiser Special 4dr Sedan - Project - $6,500 - Glencoe, MN - Not Mine

[58L-Y8]

For Sale: 1951 Kaiser Special 4dr Sedan - Project - $6,500 - Glencoe, MN

1951 Kaiser for sale by owner - Glencoe, MN - craigslist
Seller's Description:

Project car, very straight solid southern car, paint is about 10 years old and is very presentable, has the rare visor, driveline is the 6cyl in line with 3-speed manual shift. Brakes are complete with good lines and working master but need lining adjustment, engine was a good runner but from sitting a valve has stuck. odometer: 75000
Contact: Kevin (320) 5-ten-twelve-7-2
Copy and paste in your email: bc016d6851953deeb0feaebf2a393575@sale.craigslist.org

I have no personal  or stake in the eventual sale of this 1951 Kaiser Special 4dr Sedan - Project.

[Sal Hepatica]

Looks like a decent body- Is that a reflection on the trunk lid or "bird's hit"?

Needs more photos of engine bay, interior, trunk. Asking quite a bit for a car that needs brakes and an engine with a stuck valve.... and those are two "easy fix" rabbit holes to fall into.

 

Any knowledgeable KF people know about that 2 tone? I don't think Kaiser offered white paint, shouldn't the wheels be body color?

Don't know how rare that visor is, but I'm not a big fan.

 

 

[Dave Wells]

Always  thought of these as "Happy Cars". Sorta like Sally Carrera in the "CARS" movie.

 

 

 

[JamesR]

19 hours ago, Sal Hepatica said:

Looks like a decent body- Is that a reflection on the trunk lid or "bird's hit"?

Some people people hose down cars before the photos, and others don't even bother to remove the bird droppings! 😀

 

As far as the color, I kind of like the "battleship gray" on many early '50's cars. I've noticed that most women really dislike that color, though.

[DrumBob]

I want to contact the seller and ask him if he'd haggle after he removes the bird sh**. 

[58L-Y8]

11 hours ago, DrumBob said:

I want to contact the seller and ask him if he'd haggle after he removes the bird sh**. 

For a reasonably-priced old car that would also return decent gas mileage for its day, Kaisers or Frazers equipped with overdrive would be a good objective. Add in utility and the Traveler/Vagabond would be the choice.  Best group to seek one out would be with a Kaiser-Frazer Owners Club membership.  As in most defunct make clubs, members have more cars than they'll ever get restored and the overall membership numbers are diminishing.

[jimkf]

This example would be a fairly early build in that it doesn't have the narrow lower body molding added to the Special model when buyers complained about the car looking too plain. The very earliest would have had black painted rather than chrome trimmed vent posts as well as flat faced rather than convex door surround trim. 

 

Both paint colors on this car are a touch off. The grey is closer to a 1947-48 color and the white's a bit too white. Perhaps both are the fault of today's base coat - clear coat paint...looks to shiny to me. Since this is a Special, I would be surprised to see a two-tone paint color called out on the trim tag - that was usually reserved for the DeLuxe model in 1951. And, the wheel color should match the lower body.

 

Stuck valves on the 226 are easy to free up. I've had three or four stick from sitting and an application of some Marvel Mystery oil down the spark plug hole usually frees them up. Brake adjustment is done from the backing plate by turning cams that push the shoes outward. Easy to do and easy to forget until there's a lot of pedal travel.

 

All that said, if the rest of the car looks as presentable as what's shown, I think the asking price is in the ballpark. It would be a better deal if it was overdrive equipped - not a difficult job once you have all of the necessary bits.

[wayne sheldon]

Maybe it is just me? But if one is to have one of these Kaiser automobiles with the "eyebrow windshield" (for lack of a better description?)? I would think one would want to show off its distinctive feature and not hide in under some silly overbearing visor.

Probably just me.