The car that carried corpses: How an Illinois man turned Ed Gein’s horror into entertainment

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — People familiar with the story of Ed Gein know numerous body parts were found on his Wisconsin property in 1957.

However, a lesser-known item was also recovered from Gein’s farm—his car.

Before serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer dominated headlines in the early 1990s after body parts were found in his Milwaukee apartment, Wisconsin’s place in American crime lore had already been cemented by Plainfield’s Ed Gein.

Gein didn’t kill as many people as Dahmer, but his crimes were horrific nonetheless. He brutally killed two women—one in 1954 and one in 1957—but spent three years robbing graves, keeping various body parts as keepsakes and trophies.

Ed Gein’s bizarre crime spree inspired films like “Psycho,” “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” and “The Silence of the Lambs.”

Among the carnage on his rural property was a 1949 Ford sedan—the car Gein used to transport human bodies to his home.

In 1958, after Gein was committed to a mental institution, Bunny Gibbons, a carnival owner from Rockford, Illinois, purchased the car at auction for $760 and toured it around the Midwest as a sideshow attraction, naming it the “Ed Gein Ghoul Car.”

Charging a quarter to see the car, Gibbons pulled in more than 2,000 paying customers in July 1958 when he first showed the Ford at the Outagamie County Fair in Seymour, Wisconsin.

Crowds reportedly grew from there. Gibbons brought the car to Green Bay and other areas, sparking just as much public outrage as interest.

Mental health groups and state officials fought to shut the Ghoul Car display down; most were unsuccessful. But when Gibbons arrived at the Washington County Fair in Slinger, Wisconsin, in late 1958, the sheriff prevented him from setting up. The Ed Gein Ghoul Car was later banned in the state.

Gibbons continued to tour the display around the Midwest, but as interest in Gein started to wane, so did interest in the car.

Gibbons eventually returned to Rockford with the Ghoul Car. But no public records indicate where it ended up, and Gibbons never revealed its final destination.

Some believe the car was scrapped; others say it was sold to a private collector. Rumors persist, however, that someone in Gibbons family has the Ford and is storing it on farm in Wisconsin.

To this day, the fate of Ed Gein’s car—and its eerie connection to Rockford—remains one of the region’s strangest unsolved mysteries.

Do you know what happened to the Ed Gein Ghoul Car? Let us know.

Ed Gein: A Timeline of horror

1984: Gein dies of respiratory failure at Mendota Mental Health Institute.

1954–1957: Gein begins robbing graves in Plainfield, Wisconsin, collecting human remains to create macabre household items.

Dec. 8, 1954: Mary Hogan, a local tavern owner, disappears. Her skull and facial skin were later found in Gein’s home.

Nov. 16, 1957: Hardware store owner Bernice Worden disappears. Her body is later found in Gein’s shed.

Nov. 17, 1957: Gein is arrested. Authorities discover disturbing evidence in his home, including human skin masks and furniture made from bones.

1958: Gein is declared legally insane and committed to Central State Hospital.

1968: After a decade of psychiatric evaluation, Gein is deemed fit to stand trial. He is found guilty but legally insane and recommitted.