1962 Buick Premier Flxible Hearse

1962 Buick Hearse Premier Professional Coach

This 1962 Buick Premier Flxible Hearse sold for $4680 on July 28, 2016 in Clackamas, Oregon, USA.

This 1962 Buick hearse was made by the Flxible company in Ohio and was shipped to Hollywood, California. As it was sold with “redi-aire” that meant holes were cut into the firewall by the factory then covered with plates/screws for transit. The hearse was delivered and the mortuary was to finish the paint, upholster, and install the a/c when it was nearly done. An a/c radiator, fan shroud and the redi-aire plates were installed. But, something happened as the a/c was never completed. It wasn’t until some business cards were found under the seat from “Abbott and Hast Mortuary”.

An investigation into Abbot and Hast Mortuary revealed that’s where Marilyn Monroe was around the time of her death in 1962. A call to Ron Hast, owner of the mortuary at the time, confirmed prior ownership of the Buick hearse. Ron mentioned that the hearse was a “premier” model since it has viewing glass all the way around, no landau bars. That way people could see the casket in the back and pay their respects. There was another hearse made in 1962 that was a “premier” but that one was not stretched, making this a rare one-of-one! It too was purchased as a “luxury” model since it was stretched over 3 feet in length. Ron also mentioned that the hearse was originally purchased because they knew the actress’s from the 1920’s, 30’s, and 40’s were going to be passing away and they wanted a “female only” hearse with style. Abbott and Hast Mortuary did their own painting and interior for the hearses to their liking. During the hearses final transformation- paint and interior… Marilyn Monroe passed away. So the hearse was painted pink as that was her favorite color. As the mortuary was attempting to finish the hearse a public outcry to lay Monroe to rest halted the project. Still weeks away from finishing the project the mortuary decided to go with the black hearse that was used in the video footage.

So, after using the hearse for many years, it was retired and purchased by a true hearse collector, Paul Nix. He kept, restored and sold ultra rare hearses in the USA. According to the storage facility- “about 30+ years ago, Paul Nix placed 5 Cadillac hearses and this rare Buick hearse in a dry storage unit just outside of Hollywood, California. There this hearse sat in the hot sun for a long time. One of his friends wanted the hearse, so Paul Nix reluctantly sold it to him. But they lost the title. So the storage facility sold it via highest bidder for storage since neither Nix or his friend could remove it since they had no title. There it came to rest in Portland, Oregon.