1954 Kaiser Darrin Sport Convertible

Essentially the brainchild of famed American Designer Howard 'Dutch' Darrin, this unique vehicle was released on January 6, 1954. The cars were basically hand-assembled in Kaiser's Jackson, Michigan warehouse. The unique sliding door arrangement caused several issues with production, which caused constant and significant delays. Despite the beauty and unique style of the automobile, Kaiser gave up on the project on June 30, 1954, with only 435 having been built. Still, the Kaiser was the most successful new automobile sold in the United States following World War II.

Most of their products focused on family passenger cars, but in late 1953, the company offered a fiberglass-bodied sports car that had been designed by Howard 'Dutch' Darrin, who had designed many of the Classic automobiles of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s.

The Kaiser Darrin was built on a 100-inch wheelbase chassis and powered by a 161 cubic-inch Kaiser inline F-head six that produced 90 horsepower. The factory price was $3,655.

There were approximately fifty remaining bodies when Kaiser stopped production. Darrin took them, installed Cadillac V8s, and tried marketing them strictly as Darrins with very limited success.