The Kaiser-Frazer Company merged with Willys- Overland Motors, Inc., on 23 March 1953 purchasing Willys-Overland for $62 million. The deal was the largest merger in the history of the American automotive industry, making the merged companies the fourth largest automaker in the United States. In reality it represented the end of the attempt by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser to claim a share of the market dominated by the "Big Three" automakers: Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler. Much of the capital for the merger came from Bank of America and its affiliate, Transamerica.

Kaiser-Frazer, which Kaiser and his well-connected partner Joseph Frazer created, in 1945, had consistently lost money despite increasing sales. In 1950, after he had taken over full control of operations, Kaiser admitted that the company was "always completely undercapitalized." That yearKaiser introduced the Henry J. model, a four-cylinder compact car...