Ed Geins Ghoul Car ?

I Just saw an documentary of Ed Gein here in Finland (yep, the news comes here little bit later from the States )

There was an clip about the auction of Ed Geins car, but they never showed what it was.

From wikipedia:

"While Gein was in detention, his house burned to the ground. Arson was suspected. In 1958, Gein's car, which he used to haul the bodies of his victims, was sold at public auction for a then-considerable sum of $760 to an enterprising carnival sideshow operator named Bunny Gibbons. Gibbons called his attraction the "Ed Gein Ghoul Car" and charged carnival-goers 25 cents admission to see it."

What was it? does anyone have a picture?

I googled "Ed Geins ghoul car" and it said is was a 1949 Ford.

ok, thanks, anyone have any hunch what happened to it?

i found out from the web that it was a "maroon 1949 Ford".

I'd find it and donate it to the Ford Museum...but I'm twisted like that.

I think that someone might even have a photo of the display thing taken back in the 50'sor 60's ? maybe from newspaper?

Anyone?? I'm curious.

theres some info on the car here. http://www.prairieghosts.com/ed_gein.html

There is an out of print book written on Ed Gein written by the Judge that tried him. Judge Golmer (or something like that) I used to have the book but loaned it to an old girl freind. There are a few pics of the car in there, and all of the pics plus others that are on the web site above.

i have the book as well as others about him. i have also located the car provided the last name is spelled gibbons. i have found 2 other spellings.

Ed Gein was from Plain Wisconsin, he also had a Model T Ford that a friend of mine purchased and still has.He doesn't advertise the fact that the T was Gein's.

The book written by the judge was recalled because he did not have permision to print the pictures in it. It is a collector item now.

I heard he either had a Baker or a Stew-dabaker with 4 on the floor and 3 in the trunk. Sorry I couldn't help myself.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: john421</div><div class="ubbcode-body">i have the book as well as others about him. i have also located the car provided the last name is spelled gibbons. i have found 2 other spellings. </div></div>

Hi John, are you able to scan the car pics and post them? I have been too lazy to get the book myself

Thread Resurrection...

Have studied this case in great depth.

Gollmar's book does not have pics of the car, merely of the carnival wall it was behind, advertising the exhibit.

I have never seen a picture of the '49 Ford, tho I have seen a pic of Bunny Gibbons. Still researching Gibbons.

Have never heard of anyone claiming to know the fate of Gein's '49 Ford (above single-poster excluded).

A '40 Chevy truck also sold at the auction (for $215) is likewise MIA- the buyer's widow has refused to comment on what happened to it.

If anyone has any information on any aspect of the Gein case, please consider forwarding it to me, especially WRT the house.

Note that I have seen everything on the internet many times over at this point- this would have to be previous unpublished information to be of real interest.

Here is part of an article about evil cars. It has a picture of a 49 Ford fordor, I suppose it could be any 49 4dr. I will post a link to the article.http://www.carlustblog.com/2010/10/great-cars-of-death-1.html

Car #2: Ed Gein's 1949 Ford.

The inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs' Buffalo Bill, Ed Gein was a Wisconsin resident who, while not known as a mass murderer--he is known to have killed only two people--certainly was one of the more gruesome ones. I'll spare you the gory detailshere, but most of his "work" was done with corpses scrounged from the local cemeteries.

The house where Gein conducted his truly ghoulish activities was demolished to avoid turning the place into a gruseome tourist attraction, but many of his belongings were auctioned off. His car was a 1949 Ford sedan which he probably used to cart away some of the bodies. That was sold at auction for $760 to a buyer who, at the time, was rather mysterious. It turned out to be a sideshow operator from Illinois who displayed it for a time as the 'Ed Gein Ghoul Car' ("See the car that hauled the dead from their graves!") Eventually, however, venues began to be nervous about such an attraction and the car vanished into history.

I've not found anything related to Gein's '49 dated later than 1958. A couple of sideshows banned the car, and it seems Gibbons gave up on showing it.

None of the pics at the time of his arrest show a '49 Ford in the background, nor can I make it out at the day of the auction in a good-sized aerial pic.

BTW, the auction price of $760, according to a 1958 newspaper account of the auction results, was about $600 more than its retail value.

House was 'demolished' in that it was burned to the ground days before the auction, most assuredly deliberately.

UPDATE: a grandchild of Bunny Gibbons (not the actual family name) claims the car is still in existence on a 'family farm' in eastern Wisconsin. No further info at this point.

With all due respect why do we devote attention to such an individual! A serial murderer and body snatcher should not be celebrated! IMHO

Wayne

Ed Gein was not a mass murderer. I believe he only killed one person and that's what brought the authorities and expossed what he was really like. He did rob graves and do bazaar  things to the bodies of which a book was written about. But the people of Plain liked him and he even baby sat many of their children. He was even a model patient at the mental ward where he lived out his life.  RHL

History has described him as a serial killer. Whether he killed one or several he is still a low life that should not be celebrated!

Wayne

He was caught after he killed the owner of a hardware store in Plainfield, Wi. He also was suspect in the case of a missing bar owner as well as other missing person cases. 

 He was considered "weird but harmless" by neighbors and citizens in the surrounding area.

 Not a good representative of Wisconsin history. A person that should be forgotten.

Amen to that---That's why they burned his house down so some nut couldn't make a museum out of it.  People are funny that way. Look at the movie Psycho.

RHL

This is his house with the car.

http://33.media.tumblr.com/979889999c30377f9c3f9669727b768c/tumblr_ncqa3ioHDC1smej9xo1_250.gif

Ed Gein?  Never heard of him.  It must be a Wisconsin Thing; however, it does make for an appropriately Halloween-themed thread.

Boo,

Grog

This is his house with the car.

http://33.media.tumblr.com/979889999c30377f9c3f9669727b768c/tumblr_ncqa3ioHDC1smej9xo1_250.gif

That may be the house, but that car is a 1956 Mercury.

Well, it proves I can't tell the difference between Fords and Mercs

Here is a documentary on Ed that talks a bit about his car  

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ7T3da9HN8

I just watched this video and am almost speechless.

I had never heard of this guy until he came up on this thread.

As one commentator said near the beginning of the film. This macabre stuff stirs an inner fascination that one can not turn away from. I guess I fit in that category.

I don't see the discussion of his car as anything celebratory of his life or actions, its just a discussion of a small piece of some very strange Americana.

We talk about Bonnie and Clyde as if they were some kind of American hero's, and we are all fascinated with the famous gangsters of the 20s and 30s. Not in celebration, but in a certain interest in the kind of history that is truth however bazar.

The hero is whoever snuck over and burned the house down.

A spammer brought this topic up to the top of the page and even though the spam post has been deleted it has generated enough interest to keep it at the top for another day once again. I guess some old topics just stay in style...

Thread resurrection 2.0.  From a short home movie of the auction day at Gein's estate : Ed's '49 Ford Fordor.  Video is 100% verified as being that event.  Tho it appears a dark blue here, people who knew the car personally have repeatedly confirmed it was maroon.  Regardless of the event's degree of unpleasantness, it is history and as such, deserves to be recorded accurately.
 

About 1958, a friend had a beautiful green 49 Fordor like that with dual exhausts on the flat head V8.  I guess at my tender age I was smitten with the flathead sounds

and always liked the old V8's.  Not for carrying stiffs, but it would a bunch of live teenage boys.  Now I drive a 1934 Fordor an when unknowing people ask about what

it is, I can identify it by saying it's a 1934 Fordor like the one Bonnie & Clyde died in..   A point if identity that is unversally recognized.   

On 11/4/2015 at 8:51 AM, AlCapone said:

With all due respect why do we devote attention to such an individual! A serial murderer and body snatcher should not be celebrated! IMHO

Wayne

With all due respect why do you call yourself Al Capone? He killed a lot more people than Gein did.... 

19 hours ago, Lebowski said:

 

With all due respect why do you call yourself Al Capone? He killed a lot more people than Gein did.... 

I doubt you will get an answer as he has not visited since November of 2016...

21 hours ago, Lebowski said:

 

With all due respect why do you call yourself Al Capone? He killed a lot more people than Gein did.... 

I wrote a too long post about hypocrisy and irony regarding what "Al Capone" wrote earlier in this thread. When I realized that was no longer with us, either in spirit or reality, I deleted it all. I thought, why continue to torture this distasteful subject?

This is the "car" that Gein used for his grave robbing body parts transport...

I’ve been doing research tonight looking for his cars... I found this 8mm video of the estate sale and boom... his truck... 

On 5/22/2008 at 11:12 PM, ChrisSummers said:

I'd find it and donate it to the Ford Museum...but I'm twisted like that.

I don’t think The Early Ford V-8 Foundation Museum would want it but I could check with Josh Conrad  💡

The Henry Ford might be interested 

however - they would figure out a way

to rent it for a wedding  🙄

Jim

On 11/4/2015 at 5:51 AM, AlCapone said:

With all due respect why do we devote attention to such an individual! A serial murderer and body snatcher should not be celebrated! IMHO

Wayne

Because it is part of automotive history - because it happened.

About a year ago - I was asked to 

transport “ The Death Wish “ from

Iowa to California.

The man who customized it killed

his fiancé and her new beau in 

cold blood early one morning outside

St. Louis, Missouri.

He was a famous local racer of the day.

” The Death Wish “

Jim

Any updates on the whereabouts of the car & truck? 

An acquaintance of mine in England claims to be in possession of Burke and Hare's original corpse toting cart from the 1820's, which he would consider parting with if the right price were agreed upon.

I would have to say that when it comes to body snatching, Gein was strictly "junior varsity" by comparison.