Kaiser Darrin

The Kaiser Darrin, also sold as the Darrin 161, was a two-seat American sports car built by Kaiser Motors for the 1954 model year. It was designed by Howard "Dutch" Darrin on the chassis of the Kaiser Henry J compact, and it was among the first American cars with a fiberglass body, reaching the market just after the 1953 Chevrolet Corvette. Its best known feature was a pair of doors that slid forward on tracks into the front fenders. Power came from the 161 cubic inch Willys Hurricane six-cylinder engine, which gave modest performance, and the high price, doubts about the future of Kaiser and design problems with the doors held sales down. Only 435 production cars and six prototypes were built before production stopped in August 1954, and Darrin bought the remaining stock and sold it from Hollywood, some fitted with superchargers or Cadillac V8 engines.