The Kaiser Dragon is a car model based on the second-generation Kaiser that was manufactured by Kaiser Motors Corporation in 1953. The dragon name was first used in 1951 for a special trim option on Kaiser cars featuring vinyl upholstery claimed to resemble dragon skin.[2]
1951
Kaiser introduced an all-new design by Howard "Dutch" Darrin for the 1951 model year with a longer, lower, and wider body featuring the lowest beltline in U.S. car production at that time.[3] Because Kaiser did not offer a V8 engine it focused marketing against the competition by introducing unique trim package for its Deluxe models in the late fall of 1950.[3] A two-page color advertisement that ran in Life was one of the ways the 1951 Kaisers were announced with their redesigned bodies and a new vinyl upholstery option.[4] The upholstery was named "Dragon skin" instead of alligator so customers would not think that it was real alligator skin.