Famous people who have connections with Henry J cars
Most KF / Henry J aficionados are aware that these contemporary celebrities:
George Burns and Gracie Allen
Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball
Irene Dunne
Rise Stevens
Art Linkletter
all did endorsements for the Henry J in the 1950s.
Here are some more celebs that have Henry J connections -
President Bill Clinton, at the 1999 Detroit auto show, was asked what his first car was. He replied "A Henry J." Seems to make sense that the former Pres would have owned one since many of them had fold down rear seats.
Dennis Wilson, the man credited with playing the drums for the Beach Boys (although it was often someone else actually playing) was once asked in an interview "Do you remember the first time you drove a car?" His reply was "Yea, my friend's dad had a Henry J, a 1950 Henry J, ugliest car in the world. We were about 14. We'd get up around midnight, climb out the window, push the car about three or four blocks, hot wire it, and drive around." In this interview in the Oct 26, 1976 issue of Circus magazine, Wilson likely had not yet sobered up from the night before as there were no 1950 Henry Js.
Frank Zappa, in his autobiography, "The Real Frank Zappa" the late musician reminisces on page 23, "We got in our Henry J and hit the road..." Zappa then elaborates "Henry J is an extinct, cheap little car made by Kaiser. The rear seat was probably made of plywood with tweed stretched over it... " or something to that effect. He claims it was like "riding on an ironing board" and that he spent "two weeks in hell" on that trip.