Auto Car: Hemmings Find of the Day – 1954 Kaiser Manhattan

While not the only factor that sunk the company’s chances of competing against the Big Three, Kaiser’s lack of a V-8 certainly didn’t do the company any favors, nor did Oldsmobile’s refusal to allow Kaiser to use its V-8s. While the latter combination never occurred on an assembly line, a former owner of this 1954 Kaiser Manhattan for sale on Hemmings.com decided to give the car a bit more punch with an Oldsmobile 324-cu.in. V-8 but left the rest of the car looking stock, resulting in a what-could’ve-been kind of car. From the seller’s description:

automatic, power steering, power brakes and air conditioning. Stored the last 30 years. First time out since being stored in the early 80′s. Very nice original interior having been covered by plastic seat covers early in it’s life. Paint is starting to show it’s age as it was painted in the late 60′s but still has a great look to it. Nice chrome and plastic. The conversion was done in the early 60′s and had been driven on a regular basis until being stored in the the early 80′s. New master cylinder, wheel cylinders, rebuilt fuel pump, rebuilt carburetor and fuel tank has been cleaned and sealed and new fuel sending unit installed. This is a great sleeper as it has the stock appearance on the outside but the Olds V8 under the hood. The A/C unit has a stock look which has the appearance as if it were installed when new.