Photographed at the 2023 Classic Motor Show at the NEC in Birmingham, this 1954 Kaiser Darrin is number 105 of only 435 examples produced. This American sports car was designed by Howard “Dutch” Darrin and built by Kaiser Motors for the 1954 model year. It was based on the Kaiser Henry J concept car and was, just behind the 1953 Corvette, the second American car equipped with a fibreglass body. Its doors slide on tracks into the front-wing wells.
It was created at the time when Detroit was trying to compete with post-war imports of European open-top sports cars, in particular MGs and Triumphs from the UK. Successful American products were the Corvette and the Ford Thunderbird in its initial two-seater form. But the Kaiser Darrin, while attractive in design, was underpowered – at only 90bhp from a straight-six 2,600cc side-valve Willys engine. It was also too expensive, and the American public were wary of the long-term viability of Kaiser – as it turned out, justifiably: Kaiser Motors (formerly Kaiser-Frazer) Corporation had in 1953 already merged with Willys-Overland to form Willys Motors Incorporated, moving its production operations from its Willow Run, Michigan factory to the Willys plant at Toledo, Ohio. Kaisers ceased car building in the USA in 1955.
There was worse: a freak snowstorm reportedly ruined 50 of the cars; Darrin bought those 50 with any others Kaiser had in storage and sold them from his Hollywood, California showroom. Many of the cars’ engines were retrofitted with superchargers and multiple carburation to improve performance. Six were rumoured to have been re-engined with Cadillac Eldorado V-8 units – but none have survived, so this story may be apocryphal.
Darrin designed his sports car in secret while working for Kaiser, and only showed it to him when he had sourced its innovative fibreglass body for the prototype. Kaiser was horrified (he had no policy to build sports cars), but his new young wife told her husband that “This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.” Kaiser was won over and supported the development of the car.
But at launch in 1954 it cost $3668, more than the Cadillac 62 or Lincoln Capri luxury cars. Sales for such an underpowered car were slow; it finally fell victim to the decline of the Kaiser company following its merger with Willys.
Photo by Peter McFadyen. See his website: http://petermcfadyen.co.uk
few inaccuracies in this article, most notable, the Kaiser Darrin was released to the public BEFORE the ‘vette and went down a PRODUCTION line BEFORE the ‘vette