Still a few out there.

Danny Ryder - Deceased - 1962 - 2021

Danny Ryder - Deceased - 1962 - 2021

PCS Life Member
Following a lead from Jeremy Ledford I found out about an old funeral home in Atlanta that had closed when owner had passed and nephew was selling off all the funeral home stuff including a 1960 and a 1961 cadillac eureka limousine style combo. I contacted owner to go look at cars which had not been driven since mid 70's but were in closed garage. I found the cars very dirty but solid and intact with very good interiors with gurneys with sheets ready for a call as left soooo many years ago. The 60 had only 14k and the 61 had 44k. I bid against several other funeral directors for about a week trying to buy either or but price went were I thought was more than even an excited PCS member would pay so let them go. May regret later. Not as often but still find a few good cars out there.:657:
 
Sounds like a great find, Danny! The general interest in anything "old" or "retro" these days has helped our hobby in terms of increased interest in our vehicles and their values. The downside of this is as Danny experienced: when you get several people who are interested in these cars, the bidding sometimes gets out of reach of the average PCS member or other hobbyist. Once the older cars were of no interest to many funeral directors, but we all know of funeral homes who have acquired one or more older vehicles to have a classic or two on hand to use on occasional services. This gives a business something unique to cater to the retro craze. I've had a couple of f.d.'s over the years who collected old hearses for themselves tell a story of a family member noticing the old car and asking if it could be used on their loved one's service. What was an occasional thing is now more common, so we may now find ourselves bidding against someone looking to return an old car to service. This bidder will have a much different idea of the car's value than most of us. They are probably considering repainting their current cars and buying a classic car or two instead of purchasing new cars, so to them a budget of 20-30,000 for this seems like a bargain compared to the price of a new hearse or limo. As far as there being a "few still out there" that's certainly the case! We all know of funeral homes who have almost every piece of motor equipment they've ever owned, with no intention of selling. Only after a few generations or closure of the business will these cars likely be considered for sale! It reminds me of a pinhole in a 5 gallon bucket. We'll hopefully enjoy stories like Danny's of dusty classics surfacing for years to come, but with most going to PCS members!
 
Myself, Ken Elliott, Carl Woerner, and other PCS members visited this firm in 1985. The blue '61 and black '60, neither which had been tagged for years, shared the garage with a '70 Landau Traditional combination at the time.
 
I had heard rumors that the pair was for sale for $30,000 within the last 5 years ....was too rich for my blood then and Im sure it helped add to the hype now. Lets watch for them to appear for sale online anytime now.:my2cents:
 
Cary Livingston said:
I had heard rumors that the pair was for sale for $30,000 within the last 5 years ....was too rich for my blood then and Im sure it helped add to the hype now. Lets watch for them to appear for sale online anytime now.:my2cents:
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Led to believe I was bidding against funeral directors or at least the 61 may have been going to SC funeral home. THey were sold for far less than $30k
 
I was at a local car show last year and talked to a couple of funeral directors. One mention that a funeral home a few miles away had recently sold a 67 S&S combo. He also said that a funeral home in town had a 60 something sitting inside. He said the funeral director that owns it will not sale it, but he is in his 80's. I gave him my number and told him if it comes up for sale let me know.
 
There is a funeral home in MS that had a 40 henney that the owner started retoring then passed away. I have not been able to find the car as the funeral home was sold and its supposedly stuffed away in a garage somewhere. I also know of a funeral home in TN that has a early 30's S&S, 39 S&S, 46 S&S, 50 S&S ambulance, 61 S&S Park Row (Mint Condition), a 68 S&S Victoria hearse with extend table and factory bucket seats (Mint Condition), all except the 30's, 61, 68 are supposed to be for sale waiting on a price, the 39 had a blown motor, all the rest run and very restorable. So they are out there just gotta ask around and do some investigating. :)
 
Rumors are the Swartz Funeral Home in Flint, MI (2009 Int'l Meet) had a couple old ambulances or combo units sitting around and may want to sell them. I have not been able to confirm what they are or if this is true. Kimberly, where are you when we need you? Want to go on a fact finding mission....:pat:
 
Richard Vyse said:
Rumors are the Swartz Funeral Home in Flint, MI (2009 Int'l Meet) had a couple old ambulances or combo units sitting around and may want to sell them. I have not been able to confirm what they are or if this is true. Kimberly, where are you when we need you? Want to go on a fact finding mission....:pat:
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Was this the same Swartz FH just down the road from the motel? These is also a Swartz Ambulance Service to in Flint.
 
The '57 MM Futura combination and '61 Eureka limo style sitting at Swartz Ambulance Service have both sold.

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Jeremy D. Ledford said:
Was this the same Swartz FH just down the road from the motel? These is also a Swartz Ambulance Service to in Flint.
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Yes it is Jeremy... and so much for that. How in the world can a person in Texas know what is happening in Flint, MI when we have Kimberly, Russ, and Brady right there. Amazing. Thanks for the update.
 
I was in the mix too...

A lead came my way regarding the two Eurekas. After speaking with the seller, I learned he was looking for around $10K EACH. I was emailed some photos, which didn't show me much other than two Eurekas crammed into a tight garage. Spoke with someone else from that area who knew the cars and was told they had sat outside for awhile before being garaged.

Will be curious to hear the final saga to this story...
 
Tony Karsnia said:
A lead came my way regarding the two Eurekas. After speaking with the seller, I learned he was looking for around $10K EACH. I was emailed some photos, which didn't show me much other than two Eurekas crammed into a tight garage. Spoke with someone else from that area who knew the cars and was told they had sat outside for awhile before being garaged.

Will be curious to hear the final saga to this story...
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Tony, I think you are talking about the cars in Atlanta, right? I went and looked at cars first hand and the seller mentioned to me he wanted $10k each but I started offers at $5k each and several of us were bidding against each other as he had told as many as possible to get better price. They sold for less than asking price by a few thousand and I don't think they sat outside much if any during their life time as they were actually in pretty good shape. :4_11_9:
 
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