Great Cars: KAISER

Almost everyone knows about Kaiser Permanente --- the nationwide HMO but very few have any idea that it sprang from the mind of one of America’s most spectacular entrepreneurs – Henry J. Kaiser.  He built the Grand Coulee and Hoover dams, launched more ships than any other builder during World War Two, opened the first steel mill on the West Coast and introduced quilted “Kaiser Aluminum Foil.”  In 1945, this legendary California industrialist partnered with automobile executive Joe Frazer to meet the post War demand for cars.  The resulting Kaiser-Frazer autos were the last real challenge to the dominance of the Big Three.  From 1948 to the mid-‘50’s, Kaiser’s incredible energy created a stir that’s still being felt today.  His passenger cars faded away but his transformation of the Jeep from the soldiers’ buddy to an everyday SUV changed the world.  

EP 308

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• #henry_kaiser
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• #automotive_history
• #kaiser_jeep