'60 MM Landau Panoramic

A

Attila Bethlenfalvy

Larry Reeves called earlier asking "How far are you from xxxx neighborhood?"

Not far - especially if he was unexpectedly in town. As it turns out, another Trocars member caught wind of a '60 there. How did this fly under my radar??? Not having an exact location but knowing the area, figured the hunt wouldn't take long. With that I was off.

The *first* street I pulled onto, saw a mailman. Great! (Postal/FedEx/UPS employees, public utilities & phone workers, and fireman are all best buddies when hunting. They know the lay of the land quite well.) With laptop in hand even through direct sunlight, he recognized the example being shown as resting on the very next street! I would have rounded the corner of the short residential street quickly and seen it myself but hey - this guy validated & saved me a whopping 30 seconds. Ha.

Start to finish hunting once in area: Less than 3 minutes. A new personal best. :angel:

Camera battery was actually dead (another first) so excuse the crappy cell phone version.

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Owner is super cool and laid back. Still all original condition. Purchased over 20 years ago in the mountains of New Mexico. Trailered down, went through mechanically, used for 2 straight years as a tour vehicle with his band before moving to Texas. Last registered on the road in '02. Sitting since. Hella dirty, minor rust issues, nothing too bad. Windshield has a couple cracks. Back corner windows were shot out and replaced with acrylic when on tour. Windshield wiper motor conked out. Owner says everything else still works. Cool to see regardless!

Although I did not directly ask about availability, an impression was given that it could be for sale. He brought up a couple years back someone offered to do work in exchange for a deposit on the '60. Spent an hour having fun with the owner. Didn't feel the need to push any sale aspect further.

Interesting details:

-Combination (with period gurney in place) yet doors do not go above rain gutter.

-Has both Christian and Jewish symbols on inside. All I could think about was white being predominantly used at black funeral homes - which makes for interesting mental images.

-Owner never realized that driver's side landau is upside down.

- My '57 Superior, an original '50 Superior 3-way, and now this original '60 MM all lived within a mile radius before I moved last year. Crazy! :smileTEXAS:
 
Totally awesome, I want to wash that car so bad. I am not a big landau combo fan but that is something I would love to own.:boo:
 
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93k miles showing. 3 hubcaps and passenger side skirt are here.

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Engine was rebuilt early on in the current owner's possession.

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Yep - this tag was super crudded up! In a few of the pictures, you can see black protruding from under the white - noticeably where trim is missing. In direct sunlight yesterday, I incorrectly thought the dark strips were trim. Turns out it was painted white before the current owner purchased it.

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This is the worst rust spot - behind the driver's seat in the front compartment. Passenger side also had some, not as much. Driver's front floor was patched in previous ownership and has held up well. The entire rear floor looked decent. Didn't see any holes.

The rockers are intact on both sides and not rotted. Same goes for sills. Two locks were stuck, managed to open 3 doors (driver's side and passenger rear). Bottoms of driver's side doors were both clean. Passenger rear had some rust bubbles and scales.

Noticed a few areas of filler too, all thin. First two areas you can see where the black paint line (under missing moldings) is interrupted in the first picture of this thread. Then on the passenger side rear quarter as well, above the wheel.

Side & rear door glass are Lexan (wing windows are glass); rear quarter windows are acrylic. The rest of the windows were broken out when the coach was rented out for a movie shoot. (Owner submitted a damage bill for replacement, the director died of a heart attack, movie was never finished, no reimbursement happened.) Windshield has 3 raspberries (look like BB gun shots) with cracks starting.

Positives? It is a '60 - and a rare model to boot. Only pieces missing/damaged (other than glass) are belt line trim. Moreover the body isn't in terrible shape. For sure this deserves to be restored!

Owner is the type that is very in tune with nature; balance. Hippie-esque for lack of a more meaningful description. It is most important to him that the '60 goes to a good home. (That, and he gets a fair price.) The reason it didn't sell the one time before? "It wasn't the right fit." And on the premise of trading hands at this point in time? "Who am I to stand in the way of the universe's ultimate calling for this car and how do I figure that out?" No games. He really believes that! No price given. That can be worked out between buyer and seller.

Let's find a journey for this MM to take. I have ballparked a value range taking all of the issues into consideration going off other '60 MMs that have sold in the last year. Will present as such to the owner when a genuine buyer (aka NOT an Ecto enthusiast) emerges. If that buyer thinks it can be had for a grand, no contact info passed on.

Pretty sure I can line up a windshield and the corner glass for $1100 from other cars in TX.

If this was a Superior it would be in my driveway! Ha.
 
It would great to see this car fully restored, interior seems pretty good.
 
Awesome car, and I am in agreement with Ron, I want to WASH that thing and take some polish to that chrome!! Even with all of its other issues, it sure has to make it look better!
 
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