"So you like hearses?"

Heard this today, which was immediately followed up with: "There is a Buick not far from here."

Some basic directions and I was off. Figured it would probably turn out to be a crappy '80s hunk but I had a little time.

Then the bomb dropped.




A neglected '49 Flxible Buick combination begging for love! Didn't see that coming. Nobody was home so I didn't untarp & shot as it sits undisturbed. My moral obligation is to score this for one of you~

Less than 10 miles away so I'll check back regularly. Another good day in my book.

Now that fits my "different" criteria...

Flxible built 403 Buick Roadmaster-based Premier ambulances, funeral and service cars in 1949 and a combination such as this rare survivor had a list price of $6,060. This is worth saving. I hope some enthusiast or a PCS member scoops it up, restores it and brings it to a show someday.

Buick Barn Find!

"Mikey Likes It... a Lot".... Nothing smoother than a DynaFlash Straight 8! (*) A 1938 Buick Series 90 Limited Limo (Converted to a Sedan Ambulance by Our Local VFD) was my first pro-car at 15 Years Old before I knew what one was!

Was 49 the year they went to the lower profile hood? That's the type I'm into.

Yes, Todd. All of the previous Flxibles - Buick, Cadillac and Lasalle based cars - had the rasied hood and cowl to enhance the balance of the vehicle in the transition from the hood/cowl to the body. This was started with the 1936 models and continued through the 1948s.
According to what I read in the Flxible book, the cowl, hood and radiator were all raised 5 5/8 inches on the 42-48 models. But, '48 was the last year for this styling feature. The '49 Flxible Buicks were probably the longest, lowest and sleekest professional cars on the market at the time.

Atti, thanks for the pics. It looks as though this one was well cared for at one point although it looks like they used porta-walls on the tires instead of actual witewalls. Seeing vehicles like this makes one wonder how a treasured vehicle ends up resting under a tarp not seeing the light of day for years. The owner probably has all the intentions of "one day" ..... Lets hope its soon, either through him or someone else, as I can't wait to see this one "uncovered"

2nd attempt happened today. More cars were parked at the duplex yet nobody answered either side. Snapped a couple more in the rain, stuck around for a bit before splitting.




Cobwebs aplenty.



Rear compartment upholstery is in quite usable condition - including door and side panels. While all the rollers are present, the floor itself has heavy crazing/cracking/shriveling.

This does indeed look to have been well cared for - just not recently. The body appears to be in above average shape. Not been able to see any rust peering under the tarp from the ends. Sporting vintage CA historical plates here in TX equates to sitting & waiting for the next temporary custodian to step up.

A matching '49 Flxible Buick combination sat @ Moyer's Wrecking in Crestline, OH for decades. I lovingly spent time with that regal coach every time in the area. Straight rot-free body, with glass all broken out, interior trashed, no drivetrain - it was tough to foresee what it could once again be. After a few years and a handful of trips, the owner offered it to me (around '92) for a whopping $300 delivered over an hour away. Without a place to keep/work on it, I begrudgingly passed. A couple years later a yard truck damaged the perfect grill, bumper, and driver's front 3/4. Then the guilt set in for not being able to at least find a home for it... I don't know whatever became of this coach and assume it was crushed.

To this day I can still close my eyes and remember staring at those body lines. That alone is enough motivation to get this one in capable hands. Redemption of sorts.

Nice find!! Next time you are there try leaving a note on the house door with your info and best time to contact you. May help. The owner may work strange hours and this may be the only way to contact him.

CA historic plates leads me to think that this went through a major resto or at least a survivor resto in the past.

Then the guilt set in for not being able to at least find a home for it...

Click to expand...

Yea, maybe but you have been more than making up for it these past years ... and we all appreciate it. No matter who ended up w/ some of what you found or what they did with it (resto, custom, survivor driver) the fact is they were saved and are still rolling. Thanks!!

FWIW, Moyers is still doing business in Crestline. Since Rt 30 was re-routed and the train traffic is now a tiny fraction of what it was in the great days, C-line is now a very quiet little place. Sic Transit Gloria Mundi................

John Royark JR said:

Nice find!! Next time you are there try leaving a note on the house door with your info and best time to contact you. May help. The owner may work strange hours and this may be the only way to contact him.

Click to expand...

The old "note in the mailbox" trick is how I scored my 62 Belair wagon. Kinda hoping someone will drop a note in MY mailbox about it sometime...

Speaking of Moyers in Crestline.....in the late '60s Burgess Hearse and Ambulance Sales (the Miller-Meteor dealer in Loudonville) ran a metallic blue 1956 Meteor flower car as a tire truck. The car was complete and in pretty good condition. The last time I saw that vehicle (probably in the mid-seventies) it was in Moyers yard and appeared to have simply been driven in and parked. There were always some interesting vehicles to be ound in the two Moyer yards there in Crestline - especiallly in the '60s and '70s. I used to spend summer Saturdays touring through these places but, haven't been there in many, many years. Like most of these junkyards, it's probably not the old car hunters paradise it once was. Many of the good ones have been turned into recycling centers and all the good, old cars have been crushed. Too bad. Thanks for stirring up some memories.

Both the Moyers yards are still there, and quite active, tho I think the one on old Rt 30 is the only one still using the Moyers name. Unfortunately, you are right about the contents today of these kinds of places. Most of the "good stuff" is long gone. When scrap prices are high, some of the possibly usable cars get crushed, so that picking 'em over for parts ain't possible. A couple of years ago, scrap was binging so much that another Crestline yard gave me $350 for my recently disabled Chevette. Hard to believe now, with scrap prices down. BTW, Burgess is the one who gave me a tip back in '99 about a '64 M-M for sale in Logan, the car that Ron Devies is now buying from me. Small world.................

I used to visit the Burgess operations from time to time. It was worth the drive down these just to see what they had around. At one time they specialized in funeral cars and ambulances - the business the old man estabished. Originally they were Flxible dealers. they also sold other brands for awhile before becoming the Ohio distributors for M-M - in the id-60s I believe. In the late '60s they also became a Chevrolet dealership and the Burgess brothers - Gene, Ned and Jack - were running the operation. When M-M went belly up, they became Eureka dealers and moved from their downtown location to the edge of the village - across from a Ford dealership - where I believe they still are. They no longer handle funeral cars - only ambulances. I think that I heard that Gene Burgess actually worked for the Eureka Company in Toronto as their Sales Manager for awhile. You keep stirring up memories. I haven't been down to Loudinville in a number of years.

Keith, I just realized that you are in Shelby. Do you know where the r.r. diamond is, on the north side of town, next to the small city park? That was once a very busy place, with the passenger depot just south of the diamond crossing of the New York Central and the B&O. On Sept. 4, 1955, an incident occurred at the diamond, which is known in railfan lore as "The Mohawk That Refused to Abdicate." I have a book with photos taken in Shelby on that date. In a couple of them you can see the "Shelby Mall" in the distance. Back in the early '90's I was driving thru Shelby in my '73 Superior combo, when some kids shouted out "Ghostbusters!" A very small world, indeed..................

Yeah, I know the place but, have never heard of that. I remember when there was a small RR station right downtown. As kids, we used to go in there and talk with the guys that worked there. You're in Galion. Are there any of the Kunkle family members still living there? I remember having met some of them way back in the '60s or '70s and one of them had a Kunkle carved hearse body in his garage that he showed me. Not mounted or anything - just the body. It was really fancy. You gotta wonder what ever necame of it. If someone had a Model T Ford or some similar early to mid-20s car, you could mount this body on it and have an instant collectable.

2 years ago Moyers went through the old parts of the yard with a portable crusher. All the old procars are gone except one... an early 70's limo-style Superior combo & I have no idea why they saved it because it's picked clean!

Keith, was Kunkle the name of the hearse builder in Galion in the early 20th Century? There is a building still standing here at 221 N. Market St., in which I have been told hearses were manufactured. This building later housed auto dealers, and I think Packards were sold there for awhile. Does the name Stowe ring a bell? There is a man here by that name who was still using the building for car storage and maintenance when I moved here 6 yrs ago, and I think he might be related to the hearse-building people. I will see if i can find out anything more on this.

Jim.....yeah, Kunkle was a coachbuilder in Galion that was established there in 1875. They built hearses and ambulances right up to about 1925 with the last Kunkle-branded vehicles being Miller's that had been re-badged (or so said the new Miller-Meteor book). I picked up a large lot of old The Professional Car magazines at an estate sale a long time ago McPherson did a large feature article on Kunkle - the company, cars and so forth - which was very well illustrated. I believe that after the coach business faded the Kunkle family did become passenger car dealers in Galion. I'll have to see if I can find that old edition of the Professional Car. Anyhow, that's what prompted me to search out the Kunkle family and when I was shown that body in the garage.