Four ambulances, one sale... OMG!

The buyer is a friend. He invited me to join him when the cars are picked up. If I can clear my schedule, I fly into meet him, but not participate in the road trip. At this point he wishes to remain anonymous. I can tell you that he is a serious vehicle collector.
 
I just got home from there, and they told me they are still available, they pulled it from Ebay because they were overwhelmed with emails and calls, and they did not feel it was right for bidders to have to wait until they had a chance to get back to them answering questions. They know a few are seriously interested, even a local guy (not me), and are continuing to take bids, just not through Ebay.
It is best to contact the seller for more details on how they are planning to continue the bids.
 
So they were indeed just fishing as some had suspected. Nice.

$35,000 seems to be on the top end on a group of 4 cars that all need a considerable amount of restoration work.
 
So they were indeed just fishing as some had suspected. Nice.

$35,000 seems to be on the top end on a group of 4 cars that all need a considerable amount of restoration work.

ALL need considerable amount of restoration work? I don't think so. 2 yes, but the other two are very nice, especially the 77, which is the best of them all. And Im VERY anal when it comes to condition and what I consider very nice.
In the hour I was there, they seemed very interested in getting rid of them.
 
If you truely had multiple prospective bidders and the auction shot up to $35,000 well before auction completion, why would you ever pull the auction?? Makes no sense at all, if you were genuinely interested in selling them as a lot. I would agree with you on the condition of the '77 Superior, but the 3 M-Ms clearly all need to have the "mud" dug out of the lower doors, fenders, and quarters. Those 3 M-Ms might be "presentable", but they are definitely not "nice" rigs.
 
If you truely had multiple prospective bidders and the auction shot up to $35,000 well before auction completion, why would you ever pull the auction?? Makes no sense at all, if you were genuinely interested in selling them as a lot. I would agree with you on the condition of the '77 Superior, but the 3 M-Ms clearly all need to have the "mud" dug out of the lower doors, fenders, and quarters. Those 3 M-Ms might be "presentable", but they are definitely not "nice" rigs.

The last 2 sentences where my exact thoughts first time I viewed the auction. A private service bought these rigs in the 80s cheap, bondoed them till they looked solid for the purpose of "cash cow" standy by work until it was not enough to keep the doors open and the lights on. Then bought out by another company or service they where ignored until the money or space was needed.
 
those cars were so rough on the bottom side when they were new they looked like they had been wrecked. if you see a pro car straight you know it's been worked. my only concern is the sitting for 20 years. I would be interested in paying top dollar for a nice car but only if I could fly in and drive it home. John did you hear or see any of them running? to pay top dollar for a rig then another 5 or better before you could even drive it is a little much.
 
Ed,
I totally agree with you on the '71-'76 M-M coaches, but I think both S&S and Superior did a much better job on the lower body panels from the factory. I always "eye-ball" the lower door skin's alignment to the rocker panels when inspecting any '71-'76 coaches. M-Ms seem to always have "swollen" lower door skins. M-M's rocker panels seemed to be more prone to rusting out too in those years.
 
Now that I have a little more time, I can give a more detailed synopsis. Yes, there is putty in the 3 M-Ms, but one of them it is really not that bad, a weak magnet (the kind you get from Hagerty and other cheap advertising) stuck to most of it, so it was cut and metal installed, but it did have some areas of thicker putty, mainly in the #2 doors but still very presentable. After all, if I ran a magnet over all the PCS cars at an international, how many would I find the same way, if not worse? If you go by having some putty making a car "nice" compared to just presentable, we better reevaluate the way cars at meets are judged, Im sure several would have to turn in their trophies. Most of these cars have huge amounts of putty right from the factory, so I guess they are not nice cars either. Don't get me wrong, Im not a fan of putty either, and prefer not to have it, but finding one without it sure would be a feat. The rear bumper on this one was the best too, with only a slight pushed area on one side, but not that noticeable, most people would not even notice it. Some minor rusting starting in spots on the pinch welds on the lower doors, which about every car has. A little hand sanding and tough up paint and will be good as new.
The other Criterion has quite a bit of putty, you can tell this one had extensive low quality body and paint with lots of overspray in the jambs, and even holes/gaps where the B pillar meets the rocker. It also has body and bumper damage where it was backed into something, even putting a crease in the quarter by the fender skirt. The front tire on the drivers side has a huge negative camber, so front end work is needed. Other than the front door panels shrinking, the interior is great, actually all the cars have near perfect interiors with the exception of the parts car (73 lifeliner) which is not even showed in the auction. Rear bumper is bent and starting to get rusty areas.
The red Lifeliner I would consider a parts car, its very rough, and magnet would not stick hardly anywhere on the lower foot of the car, lots of rust through out, and rear bumper is shot.
The 77 Superior is the best, straight as an arrow, and everywhere I placed the magnet stuck with no signs of putty. Frame is very clean on that one too, most of it not even having the normal surface rust, the car really only looks a few years old. The only body issue I saw was a small spot starting to bubble on the back corner high up where the trim separates the top and body color.If I didn't see the slight overspray on the frame rails you would not even know it was a repaint. Im not even an ambulance guy and I would have loved to take that one home. Also, the wire wheelcovers and mounting hardware are in the car.
The 73 Lifeliner they call a parts car, should be drug back into the field that it came from, or scrapped.
I agree, I have no idea why they pulled the auction, I can only say what they told me. They did say that when they listed them they knew nothing about them, but with all the calls and emails they have learned a lot and people have been asking if they would split them up, so that may be the real reason, but no idea. He even asked me if I thought it would be better selling them in a lot or separate.
Personally, I would go after the 77, and possibly the one Criterion, and let the others stay where they are. Just my two cents on what I thought of them.

Also, I remember some time ago talk about of someone wanting to keep the Criterion data plate info to track what is left, so if that is being done let me know, I did take pictures of them.
 
Thanks for checking them out John. You did a great job. It helped myself and others decide what to offer on these cars. They were a really neat find.

No problem at all. I planned on checking them out anyway since they were so close to me. The only thing I did different was take more pix than I normally would have, and look a little closer at the body.
 
Just a footnote here. I have a very good friend and Studebaker collector who worked till it closed at US Steels Fairless works here in Pa. He told me the reason Studebakers in the later years rust so bad was they bought second line steel another company he mentioned was Divco/M-M. Here in the Pennsylvania New Jersey area where there is plenty of salt in the winter the M-Ms were always more rust prone than the other Pro Car builders. I have four M-Ms in the the yard now and they are all rustier than any of the other makers.
 
I also talked to the seller and he sent me 30 additional photos. I can post them on the photo page if anyone is interested.
 
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