Finally met with John and had a great time hanging out. The short? He'll think about selling the Buick but didn't set a price.
The long version? Read on.
John is the oldest of 3 sons. His middle brother, Robert, purchased this '49 from Ardeen Vaughn in '97, who had acquired it in CA. It sat at Robert's funeral home for 3-4 years, actually seeing service a couple times in that period.
Robert sold the funeral home, which did not include the Flxible, then moved to Amarillo, TX.
The coach went to a local storage/mechanic's place for a couple years after that. That place kept it roadworthy and actually rented it for a couple movies shot in Austin. (No, I don't know which. Film industry is pretty big here. The entire old airport has been converted to a studio.) When room was needed, the Flxible was dropped off in John's driveway where it hasn't budged since.
John's father, Sonny (the one I'd spoken too a couple times previously who lives next door), is quite famous in his own right. Known as the
Fajita King for inventing the fajita, he now enjoys tailgating in his senior years - whether it is the college world series of baseball or UT games. He loves passing out free fajitas. This is where the catering idea stems from, although between a multitude of funeral/restaurant/catering stories, they blended together somehow. Whoops.
Sonny likes the Flxible and the idea of using it for tailgating. John would have a tough time selling the Flxible while Sonny is still alive, even though his idea hasn't gotten off the ground in several years of talking about it. Smart enough to understand the rarity and condition, John wouldn't compromise the body if Sonny ever did start using it. (Then again, there isn't a surefire way of removing the original interior without risking damage for reuse at a later date.) Of course I inquired about swapping vehicles with another vintage limo-style coach, which is a possibility.
Ardeen has never provided the title according to John. Otherwise the Flxible would not have been sitting as long as it has.
