HENRY J—A COMPACT CAR WITH HUGE HERITAGE PART 2

YESTERDAY WE LEFT OUR ROAD AND TRACK STAFFERS trippin’ to Reno in one of industrialist Henry J. Kaiser’s tidy little products. Today we pick up in Part 2 with their foot collectively to the floor.

Blowing Off Detroit. “Thru the winding, hilly country,” the magazine said, “the Henry J lived up to all Road and Track has claimed for it. It blew off the best of Detroit had to offer without half trying. The acceleration figures in the chart, however, reflect the ‘too-high’ gearing.” 

The Mobilgas Run. No surprise, as this particular 6-cylinder Henry J test car had been one of company’s entries in the Mobilgas Economy Run. It posted 26.3676 mpg; its 4-cyl sibling, 30.8558 mpg, the highest among all cars in the 1952 event, which had a multiplicity of classes: nine plus Special Lightweight 6-Cylinder and Special Lightweight 4-Cylinder (each won by a Henry J Corsair).         

RandT’s Mpg. “Best fuel consumption figure was 33 mpg at a steady 30 mph in overdrive,” the magazine said. “One of the Road and Track staff reports that his standard transmission model (4.55:1 rear axle ratio) [versus the Mobil test car’s 4:11:1] gave him 21.9 mpg economy over the first 2000 miles—mostly short runs in traffic—no trips over 100 miles.”

The Henry J’s 6. RandT observed, “Not much need be written about that which reposes under the hood. The power plant is the Willy six cylinder 161 cu. in. reliable L head with aluminum alloy pistons carrying 2 scraper and two oil rings. Worthy of note is the short (3 1/2 in.) stroke, which promises high cruising speeds with little wear.”

RandT continued, “The compression ratio of 7.0:1 requires premium gas. None of the ‘regular’ will burn without the unpleasant ping of detonation.”

Combustion engineers have come a long way since then: The average c.r. in 1952 was 7.04:1; the average Octane, 88.10.

Handling. RandT recounted, “The Henry J, because of its short (100.0-in.) wheelbase, small turning circle, and actual finger-tip steering is a dream in traffic…. There is some roll, but this doesn’t seem to affect its cornering ability. The Henry J seems to ‘dig in’ just enough in corners to stick like a leech. With the tire pressures up, there seems to be no evidence of either under- or oversteer.”

A Henry J “digging in.” 

“On corners,” RandT reported, the ‘J’ might be out-run by a few of the more expensive European imports, but on the American market, it is in a class by itself.”

A Pert Look. “The Henry J,” staffers observed, “makes no claim to be a luxury car. Considering that modesty, it carries an exceptionally well-fitted body and good paint of a wide selection of tones. In styling, the designers have obviously tended toward the jaunty in their concepts. The duck tail fenders give a pert look to the little car.”

Real Advancements. “All in all,” RandT wrapped up, “the Henry J, along with the Nash Rambler and Willy Aero, has made some real advancements in the low price field. The ‘big three’ had better not become too complacent, else they might find the ‘independents’ slicing off a large chunk of their business.” 

And can you say “Volkswagen“? ds

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2024