Have you tried to contact Les? I have a direct e-mail address that may still work.
It is unlikely you will find a stick shift. (That's one of the things that are so special about those Crowns -- many of them have ten speed stick shifts.) In a Thomas or Blue Bird 40-footer, you will probably find an Allison MT643, which is a good tranny.
The air door may seem nifty, but you have to keep air in the system for it to work. Do you want to start the engine every day just so the door will work? Also, on Millicent, the controls for the door were to the left of the driver's seat and not suited to "residential" use. And the bi-fold door is a nuicance, so I have converted mine to swing like a house door.
Prices vary widely. It's all about the right buyer in the right place at the right time. $2.000- 3.000 might very well "work". And a dealer like A-Z might demand $10.000 for the same bus.
About three years ago, there was an estate auction here in my tiny town of Clearlake. The auction firm brought in a few extra things to sell at the same time -- including two of the 97-seat mid-engine Crowns. I wasn't ready to buy a bus, and I needed to be at work, so I didn't even go. I'm told the Crowns sold for $500 each.
(Long pause.
)
A year later, my local school district put four Gillig pushers up for sealed bids. Gilligs resemble Crowns. I posted a notice here on this forum, and a member bought one for $500. He did nothing with it, and sold it on eBay a year later for something like $3.000. Of those four Gilligs, the top one went for $700, the third went for $20,- and one they had to give away.
You might check with Patrick Young in Fresno. He's here on this forum occationally. I don't know him, but he is reputed to have a considerable inventory of buses.
Knowledge and wisdom are two different things. I can sit here and rattle off information about buses and other hobbies all day. But I lack the wisdom to quit doing that and instead hunker down and earn a living the rest of the day!
One day I'll tell you about the giant commercial fishing boat I almost tried to buy when I was a teenager.