Herb Weissinger Archives - Richard M. Langworth

The Greatness of Alex Tremulis, Part 2: From Tucker to Kaiser-Frazer

4 April 2020 Comments 0 Comments

Continued from Part 1. My Alex Tremulis piece was published in full in The Automobile, March 2020.

Alex and Tucker

Like Bob Bourke’s famous 1953 Studebaker “Loewy coupe,” the 1948 Tucker was almost entirely the work of one designer. Of course many helped, and both Bourke and Tremulis gave them credit. But as near as one comes to designing a car by oneself, they did.

Alex set to work in a studio at Tucker’s large, ex-Dodge plant in Chicago. As chief designer he had to inject practicality into Preston Tucker’s enthusiasm. First concepts included a car with cycle fenders that turned with the wheels, a periscope rearview scanner, and vast expanses of compound-curved glass.…

Kaiser-Frazer and the Making of Automotive History, Part 2

20 May 2019 Comments 1 Comment

Transcript of a speech to the Kaiser-Frazer Owners Club, 30 July 2015. Continued from Part 1. Delving in

While I received no extra pay for writing the Kaiser-Frazer book, I did have the use of an expense account for travel. That was where Bill Tilden came through again. He helped me track down and interview many of people responsible for the cars Kaiser-Frazer built. Others were located through the deep tentacles of Automobile Quarterly, its many contacts in the industry. We also searched for archives, large and small.

Our greatest archival find was at Kaiser Industries in Oakland, California: the Kaiser-Frazer photo files, placed on loan for AQ’s use.…

Kaiser Capers: Memories of Howard A. “Dutch” Darrin, Part 3

3 June 2017 Comments 2 Comments

Kaiser-Frazer, the postwar wonder company, presented Dutch with many opportunities—and as many frustrations. Concluded from Part 2…

Part 3

Excerpt: For the complete article and illustrations, refer to The Automobile, May 2017.

Postwar Kaiser and Frazer

Dutch had an earthy vocabulary, and his methods of work were forthright with a touch of recklessness. He needed these qualities when, after the war, he presented himself to his old friend Joe Frazer, father of the wartime Jeep, to offer designs for the all-new cars Frazer was planning, in partnership with Henry J. Kaiser. His basic lines were accepted, but modified on the way to production.…