1963 Buick Hearse or Ambulance

Flxible Other

8 - Cyl.

Automatic

4J1055933

Gasoline

****NOTE: We just received a letter about this car from the author of the book on Flxible. THIS VERY CAR is featured in his book, Flxible Professional Vehicles: The Complete History on page 199 when THIS CAR was new! Please see at the bottom of this description for author Tom McPherson's letter to us today, Wed, Sept 28th.**** FOLKS PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A NO-RESERVE AUCTION AND THIS IS THE ONLY FLXIBLE FLXETTE SERVICE CAR BUILT FOR 1963. EVEN WE DIDN'T KNOW THAT! Below is my original description from a couple days ago...THEN we got the letter that you see at the bottom.... ---Dan in Flint We have a 1963 Buick Flxible Hearse or Ambulance to sell. It was a donation to our non-profit but is in such poor condition that the owner knew the donation would be sold to assist in the day-to-day operations of The Buick Heritage Alliance. The car is located in Cleveland at a towing company and is being temporarily stored up on a flatbed truck. It is possible that delivery arrangements can be made through this towing firm. This car, as you can imagine, is extremely rare with only a few being built back in 1963. I originally posted this auction with three photos but last night I added more that were emailed to me from the towing company. The professional car manufacturer named Flxible (that's the correct spelling) was an old company with a long-time partnership with Buick Motor Division to provide chassis for the hearse/ambulance/funeral car trade. Please google Flxible for the interesting history. This is a brief paragraph that I found: The Flxible Co. (originally the Flexible Sidecar Company) was a motorcycle sidecar, funeral car, ambulance, intercity coach and transit bus manufacturing company based in the United States that was founded in 1913, and which closed in 1996. Condition is poor and hasn't run in years. I personally have not inspected the car and all I know about the car is listed here. So I cannot answer questions because this is all I know. If you wish to contact the towing company to see how much they might charge to move it to you I can provide their phone number. . In the interest of brutal honesty, my onsite contact was pretty negative about the condition...and he knows cars! So we are starting this listing at pretty much junk value-plus listing costs-in the hopes of some ambitious car lover saving it from the crusher because, folks, that's where it's heading soon. This will be the only attempt to get it in the hands of a collector, according to all our current plans. So I think that's about all I know about the car. I even had to guess at the mileage, 100,000, though I don't think it's anywhere near that. Also, while this listing is moving along, as I get more info about this car I'll add it to the description here on Ebay. Buyer is responsible for removal costs and transportation to your location. We offer no guarantees about this car at all. What you see is what you get. You car guys already know! Sent: Wed, Sep 28, 2011 11:53 am Subject: 1963 Flxible Professional Car Dear sir, This note is in response to an e-bay posting that your organization is now running to sell a 1963 Flxible-Buick professional car. I am a professional vehicle historian and the author of numerous books and feature articles on the history of the funeral car and ambulance and the coachbuilders who created them. Among these many works is a book entitled Flxible Professional Vehicles: The Complete History which is a 320-page volume detailing in text and over 900 factory photos the Buick-based vehicles of this famous coachbuilder. In 1974, I was given the complete photographic archive of the company and also acquired the production, order and delivery record book detailing all professional vehicles built between 1927 and 1965. According to this official corporate record book, the vehicle you are selling is the one and only Flxible Flxette Service Car (FB640-63) built in 1963. Flxible's body number 1340, it was delivered to the Myers Funeral Home in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania on May 29, 1963 by Gordon's Coach & Ambulance Sales of Lehighton, Pennsylvania. This car's motor number was/is 4J-1055933. The Flxette Service Car had a retail price of $7,211. This vehicle in its original form is to be seen in a Flxible factory photograph on page 199 of my Flxible book and was taken just before the car was delivered to Myers. Flxible built, sold and delivered 202 professional cars in 1963. Of these 91 were long-wheelbase Premier models and 111 were original wheelbase Flxette models. Of those 111 Flxettes, 11 were funeral coaches, 84 were combination cars, 15 were ambulances and only 1 was a service car - that's the vehicle you now have. As the one and only, I am hoping that this car will be rescued and restored by someone that can appreciate its rarity. I just thought that this information may be of some interest to you and, as an avid Buick enthusiast, if I can ever be of any assistance to you or your organization, please do not hesitate to contact me at anytime. Thank you. Tom McPherson