From the mid-1950s, the gasser class was one of the most popular categories in drag racing. Small cars with short wheelbases were perfect for hot rodders to convert to gassers. You stripped them down, jacked them up, replaced the engine and off they went. The small size of the Henry J made it perfect for a gasser. The Henry J was manufactured by Kaiser-Frazer Corp. and was only available for 4 years. The Henry J was named after company president Henry J Kaiser and was sold from 1950 to 1954. Its small size was not what consumers were looking for and only just over 7,000 were sold. The Gasser class started around this time and were built until the mid 1970s. They were named Gasser because they ran on gasoline rather than methanal or nitromethane. They were not as fast as nitro cars, but were very popular with spectators.