In the 1950s Jason Logan’s grandfather drove his bride home to Powell in a 1947 Frazer Manhattan. Jason keeps a photo of that moment in one of several binders of maintenance records he stores in the trunk of his very own Frazer Manhattan.

It’s not the same car Jason’s loving grandparents drove off in, but it did also belong to his grandfather, prolific car collector Dan Logan. 

Dan found the car in Nebraska in 1978, Jason remembered. His grandfather was there for a different purchase when he spotted the Frazer tucked away in a warehouse corner. Out of nostalgia he brought it home, but didn’t get the car running until 2013. Dan was not able to finish the car before his passing in 2020.

In his absence Jason, who grew up learning tricks of the trade from his grandfather, has taken on the responsibility of finishing the car.  

“I started out by helping my granddad ever since I was probably old enough to walk,” Jason said. “Even then I probably didn’t even help him, it was more like I followed him around to watch him.”

While Dan may not physically be around to oversee the completion of the car, his fingerprints are all over it. The apple green paint job on the body, paired with a dark green roof was his own, Jason said, although it was supposed to come out more of a mint green. 

“He painted it this way as his eyesight was starting to go, and [when] you look there’s imperfections in the paint, but you know what? I’ll never do anything with them, I’ll leave them the way they are,” Jason said.

Jason has done a lot of work to the car, from putting in gauges and gas caps to more in-depth engine work. 

There’s a lot of things that can be done to it, he said, “but it’s a driver now.”  

However, it tops out at 40 mph, something Jason has a few hunches on how to fix but has not quite figured out. 

The car’s manual was written with high octane gas in mind, so with today’s low octane fuel, the timing has to be adjusted, he said.

Something needs to be added to prevent the valves from wearing out. Some people use two stroke oil while others use an additive, Jason said, but he hasn’t really noticed a difference. 

There’s been other portions of the build that have given Jason a run for his money; “frustrations,” he calls them with a grin. 

“A car is never done, it just might get set aside for a while,” he remembers his granddad saying.

Logan recently put four new whitewall tires on the car; they were spendy but worth it, he said, noting that his grandfather always said buy it once. The lessons he learned working with his grandfather over the years have stuck with him.

“That’s what I’ll always remember, is my grandfather was helping me even though he wasn’t there,” Jason remembered, “Like when I changed the oil the first time. The oil filter is under the engine and you have to drain the caster on it before you take the filter out. And I just heard, ‘Drain that caster before you take the oil filter out.’”

Jason’s has done a lot of mechanical work on the Frazer, but he’s also added some cosmetic touches. Standard license plates have been swapped in favor of vanity plates — ‘Dan’ has been pressed into both the front and back plates. And, in the back window is a 1947 plate given to Jason in high school by his grandfather. It seemed fitting. 

“It feels like my grandpa is still alive. It feels like he’s still there,” Jason said.