Just Cool Cars: This '49 Kaiser is tan, rested and ready
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. -- Whether it is heavenly bodies (Nova, Saturn), animals (Impala, Mustang), cities (Santa Fe, Malibu) or just some fake word they make up (Impreza, Versa), automakers spend a lot of time trying to find names for their models.
But after World War II, automaker Kaiser came up with an easy solution. It just named some of its cars after the color they were painted. That's how Brad Gaston of Fountain Valley, Calif., came up with a Kaiser Bermuda Tan. The Burmuda Tan name is written in chrome on each side.
Back in 1949, when his model was on sale, he says buyers also had a choice of other color-based models, like the Horizon Blue or the Linden Green. Not a bad idea, he says, unless you come to realize you're bit limited in what color you can repaint your car if you want to stay true to the chrome badges. Gaston, by the way, repainted his, keeping it tan and looking as close to original as possible.
Gaston became attached to Kaisers because his grandfather owned one. "It's roomy and comfortable and fun to drive," he says. The Continental flathead six-cylinder engine puts out 112 horsepower, he says, which makes it underpowered given the car's size. But Kaiser's are unique, including having had innovative safety systems that were ahead of their time.
Gaston not only enjoys all the things unique about his Kaiser, but he's also lucky in another respect: He just happens to like tan.