Who set production records and greatly contributed to He was an excellent ship-builder during World War II You'll find it interesting,Īnd it will increase your interest in your car tremendously. You can read about the history of Henry J. Convertibles tend to be worth more,Ģ-door closed cars next in price, and 4-door closed cars That will definitely have an effect on its value.Īnd is it a 4-door sedan? A car's body styleĪffects its value too. Neighborhood? Or it is like some, stationaryįor a few years, or 20 years, that will takeĪt least a little work to be safely driveable? So that you can drive it at least around the Sure you could do more, but there's no need to jump in all at once. At some point, you might also repaint it, and haveĪt least the major chrome pieces (such as bumpers) replated. That way, you can drive it andĮnjoy it reliably. Something back to beauty and useful life.įor your Frazer, you might want to get it in top mechanicalĬondition if it isn't already. To preserve history, and for the satisfaction of bringing Restoration costs, so people do it-to whatever level-for fun, No car is ever increased in value by the entire amount of Is rebuilt, and the entire car when done looks better than new. That would mean that every nut and bolt is takenĪpart and refinished, every mechanical and electrical system Modest means, and a TOTAL restoration can cost $100,000 to Off-the-frame restoration, because most collectors have relatively There are manyĭifferent levels of restoration. You say you're thinking of some restoration. Good! They are an enjoyable hobby, and you and your familyĪnd friends can make many fond memories with them. You must like old cars, or you wouldn't have bought your Frazer. You'll find plenty of people here, most experts in someįorm or another, who will give varying thoughts on your car. Modern wagons don’t offer this feature, either (though old wagons often did).Mike, welcome to the AACA discussion forum! Some people prefer the look of a sedan and 2. Why not just get a wagon? A valid question, except that 1. The tailgate is the real game-changer it’s a seemingly simple addition to the equation, but one that adds a ton of functionality to the sedan concept. If there’s a term for this setup I can’t find it, so I’m going to call it a split liftback. For example, the Ford Mondeo-the over-there version of our Fusion-got a variant with the useful feature, whereas we were stuck with a regular trunk.īut the Kaiser-Frazer offerings took it a step further by pairing a liftback with that drop-down tailgate. But generally speaking, it’s an approach that’s more popular in Europe these days. We get a taste of the liftback’s utilitarian potential on the Audi A5 Sportback and A7 coupes like the Jaguar F-Type and the C7 Corvette also employ a similar setup. We can think of the K-F utility sedan as a sort of elongated hatchback-or as it’s typically called when a liftgate is plopped onto the back of a coupe or sedan, a liftback. The rear bench seat folded forward and out of the way, and wood strips ran the length of the wide-open interior space to ease loading and unloading and protect the floor. When the upstart automaker, operating out of the former Willow Run bomber plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan, introduced its Traveler and Vagabond utility sedans in 1949, they combined a large lift-up trunk lid with a drop-down tailgate. When it wasn’t in use, it remained tucked away the car’s attractive coupe profile revealed nothing.īut it was the short-lived Kaiser-Frazer that perfected the concept after WWII.
If you needed to transport something long or bulky, you’d pop the trunk and slide the bed out and into position. Notably, the Hudson Terraplane Utility Coupe, made from 1937 to 1942, built a roll-out cargo box into the trunk.
The overwhelming majority of the time, we’re hauling around a bunch of unused cargo volume or pickup bed space.Īutomakers have been trying to figure out how to accommodate these occasional-use stuff-hauling scenarios for ages. And indeed, crossovers and trucks are great at doing all that, and more!īut most of us don’t end up exploiting their capability on a daily basis. One of the main reasons buyers flock to crossovers and pickup trucks is their perceived utility: I might need to lug home 300 rolls of toilet paper, or a few dozen 2x4s, someday, you tell yourself as you walk past the sensible sedans and hatchbacks.