My Henry J was bought in the spring of 1963. The car I had, a 1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser was beautiful, but was disappointing and unreliable. Dad and I did everything we could, even replacing the timing chain and radiator work, but it still overheated and the transmission would not shift properly, so when a man was in the gas station wanting to sell his Henry J because he had just bought a Chevrolet sedan. I asked him how much he wanted for it? He replied $50. That was just a few dollars more than I was making in a week. I bought it on the spot, without even seeing it.
It was all white and looked like the picture above. There were still a lot of them around at the time, but they had been rebuilt with either big Oldsmobile or Chevy engines in them and were only used on the local drag strips. Mine was all original stock. When I would drive into the local hamburger places around town guys would rush over to ask what engine I had put under the hood. When I responded it was still all stock equipment, they would then just walk back to their cars, no longer interested. I had already met Joyce and we were dating when I bought the car. When she first saw it she asked what it was? I told her and she just shook her head and said it looked like a baby whale. I had already lost a girlfriend when she said she did not want to be seen in my Studebaker, but while Joyce didn't like the baby whale, she still went out with me in the whale. I did have to spend $1 on the car buying new brushes for the generator, but that was it. I installed them myself. I had the car all through the summer and when I joined the navy on a one month delayed enlistment my mother insisted I sell one of the cars. I was still working at the gas station when the man who sold me the Henry J came in and asked me if I would sell it back to him? He said his Chevy was barely running after those few months. I said I would sell it for $100 and he bought it back.
There are many Kaiser cars available for sale on websites. The car originally sold for $1300. The cars now sell for as much as 30,000 or 23 times the cost for one off the showroom floor. I wish I still had mine to drive today. It would still be original and I would love to drive it around now.
It was all white and looked like the picture above. There were still a lot of them around at the time, but they had been rebuilt with either big Oldsmobile or Chevy engines in them and were only used on the local drag strips. Mine was all original stock. When I would drive into the local hamburger places around town guys would rush over to ask what engine I had put under the hood. When I responded it was still all stock equipment, they would then just walk back to their cars, no longer interested. I had already met Joyce and we were dating when I bought the car. When she first saw it she asked what it was? I told her and she just shook her head and said it looked like a baby whale. I had already lost a girlfriend when she said she did not want to be seen in my Studebaker, but while Joyce didn't like the baby whale, she still went out with me in the whale. I did have to spend $1 on the car buying new brushes for the generator, but that was it. I installed them myself. I had the car all through the summer and when I joined the navy on a one month delayed enlistment my mother insisted I sell one of the cars. I was still working at the gas station when the man who sold me the Henry J came in and asked me if I would sell it back to him? He said his Chevy was barely running after those few months. I said I would sell it for $100 and he bought it back.
There are many Kaiser cars available for sale on websites. The car originally sold for $1300. The cars now sell for as much as 30,000 or 23 times the cost for one off the showroom floor. I wish I still had mine to drive today. It would still be original and I would love to drive it around now.
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