Joe Frazer, Father of the Jeep, Part 1
In 2011, Joseph Washington Frazer (1892-1971) was inducted, belatedly, into the Automotive Hall of Fame, with his erstwhile partner, Henry J. Kaiser, co-founders of the world’s fourth-largest auto manufacturer during 1946-48. This article is updated from the remembrance I wrote of JWF, creator of the Jeep. For more on Frazer, see my book, Kaiser-Frazer: Last Onslaught on Detroit.
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On August 7th, 1971, the auto industry lost a cherished son. Joe Frazer—mechanic, instructor, financier, salesman, president and board chairman in a half dozen companies, one of the few remaining giants of the classic era of American car-building, passed away from cancer at his home, “High Tide,” in Newport, Rhode Island, aged 79.…
