AutoducksVIN Decoder

Classic cars / Independents

Kaiser VIN decoder, 1947-1955

Classic Kaiser serial numbers use the maker's own format, which standard decoders cannot read. Ours reads each published format and shows the source for every rule, including where references disagree.

Type it exactly as stamped, with no spaces or dashes. We do not keep the numbers you enter.

Where's my serial number?

Example: K532005001 (an example Kaiser serial).

Years we cover

1947-1955.

What a Kaiser serial looks like, by year

Each example below is split into numbered groups of characters, with what each group means. Example numbers show the layout; they are not a specific car.

1947-1955

Looks like K532005001 (10 characters)

1 Model prefix letterK: Kaiser model number (K-xxx), as printed on the plate [CIRCLEKF3] [AUTOPAPER]
2 Model number532: 1953 Kaiser Manhattan [KFCLUB405]
3 Serial number005001 [CIRCLEKF] [CIRCLEKF3]
Where sources disagree
  • Plant letter J: Circle K-F says Kawasaki, Japan, 1951-53 Henry J 'perhaps Kaisers also'; the Kaiser-Frazer Owners Club thread was not available for a second reading of this letter.

Two plates: the serial plate on the driver's door hinge post (between the hinges) carries the model number and serial; the body tag on the firewall under the hood carries the body number, paint and trim codes (CIRCLEKF).

Per the Kaiser-Frazer Handbook as quoted by Circle K-F: a car assembled at a plant other than Willow Run, Michigan, has an extra letter on the serial tag, for example K513-J0051284 (J = Kawasaki, Japan). Cars with no letter are Willow Run cars (CIRCLEKF).

Plates are written with the model number, a dash and the serial, for example K-532, F47-005407, F-505-015897, F516-001002. Serial lengths seen are six or seven digits. These layouts come from the examples in CIRCLEKF, CIRCLEKF3 and a museum record cited in earlier notes; no source gives the digit count as a rule, so the pattern accepts both.

The model-year start points of the serial sequences are not published in any source we could read, so the model year is not decoded from the serial. Model numbers listed in the sources: Kaiser K-100, K-101, K-481, K-482, K-491, K-492 and Frazer F-47, F-47A, F-485, F-486, F-495, F-496 for 1947-49 (AUTOPAPER); the meaning of each model number by year is mostly not stated and is not encoded except where the Kaiser-Frazer Owners Club thread states it (KFCLUB405).

Example is built from layouts shown in the sources, not a recorded car.

All model number codes (3)
5131951 Henry J standard four-cylinder (K513 appears as the Henry J body number)
Henry J is not a Kaiser car line; the number is listed because it uses the same plate layout.
[KFCLUB405]
5311953 Kaiser Deluxe [KFCLUB405]
5321953 Kaiser Manhattan [KFCLUB405]
All assembly plant letter (blank = willow run, michigan) codes (9)
ALong Beach, California (1949-51 model years, Kaiser and Frazer only) [CIRCLEKF]
BJackson, Michigan (1951 Frazer Manhattans and small numbers of 1951 or 1953 Kaiser Dragon) [CIRCLEKF]
CPortland, Oregon (1951 and 1952 Virginian series Kaiser) [CIRCLEKF]
HHaifa, Israel (1951-54 Kaiser and Henry J) [CIRCLEKF]
JKawasaki, Japan (1951-53 Henry J, perhaps Kaisers also) [CIRCLEKF]
MMexico City, Mexico (1951-53 Kaiser and Henry J; distributor owned and operated) [CIRCLEKF]
RRotterdam, Holland (1949-51 Frazer and 1949-54 Kaiser) [CIRCLEKF]
TLeaside (Toronto), Canada (1951 and 1952 Virginian series Kaiser) [CIRCLEKF]
IBombay, India (1948-49 Kaiser and Frazer; distributor owned and operated) [CIRCLEKF]

Sources: [CIRCLEKF] [CIRCLEKF3] [KFCLUB405]

What a serial number cannot tell you

It identifies what the factory recorded in the number: typically the model year, assembly plant, series or body and production sequence, and in some years the engine. It cannot confirm a car is original or numbers-matching. Compare stampings, body tags and documentation.

Sources