HEMMINGS STOCK EXCHANGE – AMERICAN COLLECTIBLES
1954 Kaiser-Darrin
Its longtime fans thought it was undervalued;
now, the market agrees
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID LaCHANCE
Many are the collectors who hold onto a particular car because they’re sure that, someday, it’s
going to be worth a lot of money.
Kaiser-Darrin owners, your day has
come.
Not that you need us to deliver the
news. Over the past couple of years, as
prices of the fiberglass-bodied roadster
have spiked, a good number of Darrins
have come on the market. Just five years
ago, you could have bought a very nice
example for $40,000; today, Darrins are
bringing in excess of $100,000 at auction,
with one selling for $176,600 in January
2008. That price was matched one year
later, with the sale of designer Howard
“Dutch” Darrin’s own car.
Gordie Chamberlin, a longtime Kaiser-Frazer enthusiast, does not consider the
prices paid at high-octane auctions to
be a true bellwether of the car’s market
value. But he does believe that the value
for a Darrin in #1 condition has moved
well over the $90,000 mark. Why the sudden change? Gordie thinks it’s a simple
matter of collectors finally discovering
the car’s charms. “Kaisers and Frazers
in general were way undervalued for
years, and the value guides were slow to
recognize their true values,” he said.
In agreement with that assessment
is Terry Trasatti, who edits the Darrin
newsletter for the Kaiser-Frazer Owners
Club, International and is keeper of the
Kaiser-Darrin Owners Roster. “I think
the main reason for the increase in val-
ues, which was long overdue, is that the
public had finally recognized the impor-
tance and uniqueness of the Darrin,”
Terry said.
1954, its only year of production. Hold-
ing down its appeal were its steep $3,655
price tag—you could have bought a V- 8
powered Lincoln Capri two-door hardtop
for less — and its 90hp Willys flathead six,
which was willing, but no world-beater.
“It wasn’t a wonderful car mechanically,
probably not as good as, say, a Thunder-
bird or a Corvette. But they held their
own,” Gordie said. “They were not fast,
but they were certainly stylish.”
Why has the collector world suddenly
decided that these are $90,000-plus cars?
There seems to be no obvious answer. As
Gordie points out, “Sometimes, a car can
sleep for years and years and years, and
then one day it just takes off.”
Value Trend
$0
$10,000
$20,000
$30,000
$40,000
$50,000
$60,000
$70,000
$80,000
$90,000
$100,000
1984
$94,000
$38,000 $34, 200
$15, 500 $14, 500
$28, 500
1989
1994
1999
2004
2009
