1960s Magnavox set info

[Garrard201]

Hello all... I'm not 100% knowledgable on early BW sets, but I found this one recently. It's in pretty good physical shape, and I like the design. NOW, what I do know is that this unit has no UHF knob, so I'm guessing it's pre-1964. I haven't plugged it in because I know I should use a Variac(?), but I don't know what that is or why. I assume it doesn't work, which is why I found it sitting on the curb. I also assume it's B/W since there's no color controls (tint, color, etc). The model number is obscured... I only got the first 2 digits: "1M."

Anyone know anything about this? Age? Model? Original cost? Rarity? Ease of repair? Is it worth fixing? It seems a shame to gut it and just use it to house a $99 Best Buy special.