Bill Cushenbery
[1] In addition to building his own designs, he is noted for having helped George Barris create the Batmobile car featured in the 1966–1968 Batman television series.
[3] Cushenbery started customizing cars in 1947, in a small shop set up in the back of his parents' house behind a service station in Wichita, Kansas.
[2] During his time there, he incorporated his business to raise money to finish some projects, but wound up losing control of the shop to his other partners and walking away from Burbank.
By 1966, the public had lost its taste for radical customs, so Cushenbery turned his attention to restoration work and to repairs for high-end imports.
[4] Although often mistaken for a 1940 Ford, El Matador started life as a 1939 model and debuted in February 1961 at the Oakland Roadster Show.
Inside, the stock dashboard was replaced by a section of wing strut and two instrument pods from a 1950s era Nash, and a custom console was added.
[11] In 1962, Cushenbery collaborated with artist Don Varner to create Silhouette, his first show car not based on a production body.
Starting with a shortened 1956 Buick chassis, he hand-hammered the body from 20 gauge steel and topped it with a front-hinged bubble canopy supplied by Acry Plastics.
[3][12][13] Silhouette made extensive use of electric controls on the dash or hidden in the car's trim for things like raising and lowering the bubble top, opening the hood and trunk, starting the engine, the lights, and running the blower fans.
[3] Silhouette debuted at the 1963 Oakland Roadster Show and won the Tournament of Frame, earning Cushenbery his first Master Builder Award and a trip to Paris, France.
Like Silhouette, the Dream Rod made extensive use of electric assists, but went one step further by adding a remote radio control panel to operate the accessories.
Major components for the car were sourced from a 1961 or 1962 Corvair, including the air-cooled Chevrolet Turbo-Air 6 engine, transmission, and front and rear suspension.
It was put on temporary display at Darryl Starbird's Rod and Custom Hall of Fame Museum prior to the start of its full restoration.
Bodywork for the car was to be handled by Willie Newman from New Zealand and interior work by "Little John" Englehardt, while a period-correct powertrain was built by Jeff Williams of California Corvairs.
Cushenbery started with a convertible body, and added a landau half-roof covered in white vinyl and a removable center panel.
He also replicated the Ford's jet-inspired round taillamp treatment on the front of the car, stacking dual Lucas headlamps in circular surrounds with a horizontal dividing bar on each side.
[22][23] The Batmobile appeared in a network presentation reel, then was leased to 20th Century Fox Television and Greenway Productions for the series.
Departing from traditional dune buggy styling, The Gypsy was a sportier, more street-oriented design with an all-aluminum body and an engine from a Porsche 912.
[2][4] One of the last custom cars done by Cushenbery was Surfin' Bird; a modified 1956 Ford Thunderbird given away by 93/KHJ Boss Radio as part of the station's 'Summer of the Big Kahuna' promotion.
Boss radio ran multiple promotional spots for the contest, several of which include background grinder noise to simulate being in a working body shop while the "Big Kahuna", as portrayed by Chris Varez, asks Cushenbery to add features to the car.
