Superchargers were around long before gearheads started strapping them to their hot rods, first used to increase airflow to blast furnaces in the mid-19^th century. The first factory supercharged cars appeared on the roads in the 1920’s, and before the outbreak of war superchargers were used aplenty when trying to achieve top speed record. Yet it was perhaps World War II that saw the greatest use of superchargers, which were strapped to many airplanes (along with turbochargers) to give more power and speed to our air fleet.

It took almost a decade after the end of World War II for another factory supercharged car to emerge on the American automotive scene. That car would be the Kaiser Manhattan, and one of these cars was found by Bangshift on eBay, where it did not meet its reserve.

The year was 1954, and like many smaller American brands, Kaiser was struggling to stand on its own two feet against the dominance of the Big Three. Without adequate funding to build an all-new engine, Kaiser opted instead to supercharge its archaic L-head inline-six cylinder engine. The engine was a dog without the supercharger, making just 140 horsepower, and even with the supercharger it was granted just an extra 22 horsepower for a grand total of 162 ponies.

Aside from the supercharged engine, the Kaiser didn’t have a whole lot else going for it. The looks were lackluster, and in 1955 production of these cars, and all Kaiser-branded automobiles were ceased. Just under 4,000 of these ’54 Manhattans were built, and the next year would be the final year for Kaiser automobile sales, which makes this eBay auction interesting, if not exciting. Kaiser is perhaps better remember for its other brands, Willys and Jeep, than its cars, but none the less this car was a precursor for factory supercharged muscle cars that would come in the decades down the road.