- My Custom 56 Ford -

Back in the days of "American Graffiti" - Early 1960's Page 2 of 2

These are pictures taken by Andy Southard for Car Craft Magazine. They show my old '56 Ford as it was the last time it was customized in 1962. The paint was Chartreuse MetalFlake with Pearl White. It was painted by Steve Coehlo and the engine work (a Ford 390) was by Gary Calvert -- with the body work being done by many friends. It was a group effort to build a national class winner in semi-custom sedan class and our goal was achieved.

Steve, Gary, Gerry Overweser, Jim Cox and many others contributed so much of their time to make it be a winner. The car won many shows and was featured in Car Craft Magazine. Andy Southard,Jr, a good friend and a man who is well-known nationally by all hot-rod and custom car enthusiasts,(he is a former Managing Editor of Rod & Custom Magazine, a feature photographer for Peterson Publications and a recent inductee into the "Grand National Roadster Show Hall of Fame.") has kept a photographic record of the many changes that occurred with my old Ford, for which I am very grateful. Andy has published five books on the history of hot rods and custom cars, and, in my opinion, they are the historic pictorial of the crazy Hot Rod, Custom Car culture that covers over four decades.

All are available from Andy (author signed copies for you collectors) at Merc40@aol.com. Check them out -- they're the finest books on the subject - without exception!

The middle pictures were shot in front of Bill Cushenbery's Custom Shop in Seaside, California in 1961. We were all getting ready to leave the little four bay shop and caravan our custom cars to the Sacramento Autorama. I had recently won the "Class Award" at the '61 Oakland Roadster Show the week before. Five customs built by Bill Cushenbery, including my "Candy Apple Burgundy" Ford, made the trip that day.

Inside the doors of his little shop the day these photos were taken was a custom under construction that were soon to shock and amaze the custom car world -- The full custom '56 Ford "The Marquis." An exact replica of "The Marquis" was shown at the 2001 Roadster Show (see the Hot Rods, Wild Paint pages on this site). The radical 40 Ford in the top picture is Cushenbery's "El Matador" One of the guys in the photo is Tony Cardoza who owned the radical 59 Chevy in the bottom picture. My Ford is third from the left in the middle shot. This was the first year for Cushenbery to show his work and it was a great success for him. The next year he won "Builder of the Year" at the Oakland Roadster Show and won a trip to Paris.

Bill Cushenbery died a couple of years ago. His early passing leaving a major and unfillable void in the list of "world class" creative car builders of that era... Cushenbery's fame glowed on the same exalted level as Gene Winfield, George Barris, Bill Hines, Joe Wilhelm (who has also passed), the Alexander Brothers, Darrell Starbird and Joe Bailon. His rare talent and creativity will be missed - but I believe he is now, very likely, the chief coach builder for God.

The next page (under construction) will have a picture of the way my Ford looked the first day it came out of Cushenbery's shop. It was painted a light lavender pearl with violet scallops (called graphics today). We had expected the color to be more purple than it turned out to be, and I never quite got used to it. I had it painted "Candy Burgundy" by my friend Al Thompkin two months later, and I liked it much better. The scallops were placed on the car by Don Varner, a very well-known custom painter and designer who had developed a huge following of car nuts recognizing his rare talent as a custom painter. Most of Cushenbery's beautiful customs were creations made from the sketches by Varner, and I had the privilege of being there, occasionally, when several sketches were done. Those concept sketches would later become reality on some very famous custom cars.

The two men would go to a little coffee shop just down the street from Bill's shop, draw ideas on paper napkins and discuss how designs would look on different body styles. I was 18 years old and totally in awe as the great body man and great designer would create something beautiful on paper, knowing it would soon be transfered to metal....The owner of the coffee shop joked that he was going to start charging them for the napkins. They could go through a full dispenser at one sitting. If only I had had foresight enough to keep some of those napkins!

Several years later, Don Varner, who is now an industrial designer by profession, would win the internationally coveted "World's Most Beautiful Roadster Award" with his fabulous street rod --it was a masterpiece of engineering, hand-formed body work, and design. I hope to talk Don Varner into helping me design the Full Custom 1972 Chevy SW Pick-up I'm planning to build. With his participation, I know I could count on it being a work of art!

Another Salinas friend, often seen cruising the streets of Salinas in his beautiful '39 Chevy Coupe or chopped '50 Merc during those exciting days, was Rod Powell. Rod would later establish himself as one of the most famous and creative "flame" painters in the world. He has recently authored an outstanding book on the history and techniques of this fabulous artform.

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- My Custom 56 Ford - Back in the days of "American Graffiti" - Early 1960's Page 2 of 2
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	These are pictures taken by Andy Southard for Car Craft Magazine. They show my old '56 Ford as it was the last time it was customized in 1962. The paint was Chartreuse MetalFlake with Pearl White. It was painted by Steve Coehlo and the engine work (a Ford 390) was by Gary Calvert -- with the body work being done by many friends. It was a group effort to build a national class winner in semi-custom sedan class and our goal was achieved. Steve, Gary, Gerry Overweser, Jim Cox and many others contributed so much of their time to make it be a winner. The car won many shows and was featured in Car Craft Magazine. Andy Southard,Jr, a good friend and a man who is well-known nationally by all hot-rod and custom car enthusiasts,(he is a former Managing Editor of Rod & Custom Magazine, a feature photographer for Peterson Publications and a recent inductee into the "Grand National Roadster Show Hall of Fame.") has kept a photographic record of the many changes that occurred with my old Ford, for which I am very grateful. Andy has published five books on the history of hot rods and custom cars, and, in my opinion, they are *the* historic pictorial of the crazy Hot Rod, Custom Car culture that covers over four decades. All are available from Andy (author signed copies for you collectors) at Merc40@aol.com. Check them out -- they're the finest books on the subject - without exception!	The middle pictures were shot in front of Bill Cushenbery's Custom Shop in Seaside, California in 1961. We were all getting ready to leave the little four bay shop and caravan our custom cars to the Sacramento Autorama. I had recently won the "Class Award" at the '61 Oakland Roadster Show the week before. Five customs built by Bill Cushenbery, including my "Candy Apple Burgundy" Ford, made the trip that day. Inside the doors of his little shop the day these photos were taken was a custom under construction that were soon to shock and amaze the custom car world -- The full custom '56 Ford "The Marquis." An exact replica of "The Marquis" was shown at the 2001 Roadster Show (see the Hot Rods, Wild Paint pages on this site). The radical 40 Ford in the top picture is Cushenbery's "El Matador" One of the guys in the photo is Tony Cardoza who owned the radical 59 Chevy in the bottom picture. My Ford is third from the left in the middle shot. This was the first year for Cushenbery to show his work and it was a great success for him. The next year he won "Builder of the Year" at the Oakland Roadster Show and won a trip to Paris. Bill Cushenbery died a couple of years ago. His early passing leaving a major and unfillable void in the list of "world class" creative car builders of that era... Cushenbery's fame glowed on the same exalted level as Gene Winfield, George Barris, Bill Hines, Joe Wilhelm (who has also passed), the Alexander Brothers, Darrell Starbird and Joe Bailon. His rare talent and creativity will be missed - but I believe he is now, very likely, the chief coach builder for God.	The next page (under construction) will have a picture of the way my Ford looked the first day it came out of Cushenbery's shop. It was painted a light lavender pearl with violet scallops (called graphics today). We had expected the color to be more purple than it turned out to be, and I never quite got used to it. I had it painted "Candy Burgundy" by my friend Al Thompkin two months later, and I liked it much better. The scallops were placed on the car by Don Varner, a very well-known custom painter and designer who had developed a huge following of car nuts recognizing his rare talent as a custom painter. Most of Cushenbery's beautiful customs were creations made from the sketches by Varner, and I had the privilege of being there, occasionally, when several sketches were done. Those concept sketches would later become reality on some very famous custom cars. The two men would go to a little coffee shop just down the street from Bill's shop, draw ideas on paper napkins and discuss how designs would look on different body styles. I was 18 years old and totally in awe as the great body man and great designer would create something beautiful on paper, knowing it would soon be transfered to metal....The owner of the coffee shop joked that he was going to start charging them for the napkins. They could go through a full dispenser at one sitting. If only I had had foresight enough to keep some of those napkins! Several years later, Don Varner, who is now an industrial designer by profession, would win the internationally coveted "World's Most Beautiful Roadster Award" with his fabulous street rod --it was a masterpiece of engineering, hand-formed body work, and design. I hope to talk Don Varner into helping me design the Full Custom 1972 Chevy SW Pick-up I'm planning to build. With his participation, I know I could count on it being a work of art! Another Salinas friend, often seen cruising the streets of Salinas in his beautiful '39 Chevy Coupe or chopped '50 Merc during those exciting days, was Rod Powell. Rod would later establish himself as one of the most famous and creative "flame" painters in the world. He has recently authored an outstanding book on the history and techniques of this fabulous artform.
- Back to HOME PAGE - THANKS FOR VISITIN'!!