Where is the Bill Cushenbery Silhouette?

Jay, I guess they shud have left the original Buick engine in it. Who'd want an old clunker Buick nailhead?

 

Many times these showcars were sold to show promoters and I wonder who actually owned the car when it was stolen. When the El Matador was on the Ford tour, it was owned by AMT model co.

 

Bob,

Good point. I am working on a clue that may lead to the knowing just that fact.

Jay

 

My first real "lead" has provided a name, and I have found a phone number with an answering machine at the other end. I will give it through the weekend to see if I get a call back.

 

J, I'll be keeping my eyes peeled as to how this story evolves ! scrubba

 

Subscribed for the morbid curiosity of it all...

 

I wait, pondering, my eyes ablaze with anticipatory delight.

 

Well, a lot of the story has been filled in with regards to the theft. at this point, I am under confidence not to disclose my conversation and must respect that request. I will be following several leads and will not be updating this thread.

I do know where major elements of the car have survived and are located.

 

so many questions left unanswered.
Did Cushenberry still own it when it was stolen?
was it buried ?
are you going to go see it?
will you share more info with us eventually?
glad to hear a major part of it still exists!

 

I am excited to see how this all pans out. I love hearing stories of old kustoms being found.

 

Oh boy, you DO know you've just become persona non grata around here, right?

 

I only mean that I am going underground while I do the research. To answer some of the questions: Bill Cushenberry did not own the Silhousette at the time of its theft. It was not taken from Cushenberry's back lot of his shop in Burbank, as has been reported. It was not taken so that someone could steal the drivetrain, as it was out at the time of the theft and survives intact. I currently know where pieces of the original car are located, like the drivetrain. I do not yet know the location of the body, and that is what I am going to have to do exhaustive research to determine.

 

If it can and will be revealed. A part of the problem is that some people in this chain of events and analysis have faded/moved away, or have passed away, which makes this all the more difficult.

 

Awesome...best of luck, hope you find all the pieces!

 

Good luck and remember; post pictures of the parts here when found or "it didn't happen".

 

J. Fitzhugh, I hope that you will be able to document your search with detailed notes, photos and videos -- it could be a fascinating story to tell once you are able. Even if the car is not found, the search could turn up other H.A.M.B.-friendly materials.

 

Good luck in you endeavor, and please keep us as informed as you can.

But please, spell his name correctly, I'm sure its Cushenbery.

Mick

 

Mick,

Thanks for the correction. Without spell-check or a really good editor, my spelling can be off. I am the adult result of "new-age" open-space learning from the sixties. We were not made to spell, and as result I missed that learning window.

Jay

 

A quick update. I have been chasing leads. Evidence that the body, which was built out of steel upon a shortened 1958 Buick chasis was reportedly seen in the 2005-2009 timeframe. Interviews to date have not been productive. I may have one hint that leads out of California to the east for the rolling chasis and body. I will let you know.

Here is a summary of what I have found. The original front plastic bubble and the surround used to lift the bubble for entry and exit have been located, and they remain in original paint. That makes two of the major components, the Ford installed 427 drivetrain and the bubble, that exist.

As I learn more, I will post. Jay

 

Well I wish you luck in your quest. Will be very interested in the, hopefully, positive outcome.

 

Great stuff keep us posted

 

x2.

 

Yeah...please don't leave us hanging. Dammit....now I wanna go look for lost shit..

 

Well guys, I was a friend of Bill Cushenberry when he lived in Bakersfield, CA. I even got Bill involved in bicycling to put other types of fun in his world. To the point however, I was always at the shop where he was doing his paint work. I shop owner was Red Hardin. Well some how Bill "found" the Silhouette and brought it back to Bakersfield. They left it on the trailer used to retrieve this custom. Seems that everyday they would roll this trailer out of the shop to give them more space during the day. Just routinely putting it back inside at night. One day Red and Bill rolled it out behind the shop. And in Bakersfield, this included a dirt lot right behind Red's shop. Well, the two men went to lunch. I even joined them periodically. On this day they forgot to put the Silhouette trailer back in the shop at lunch. When they came back it was gone. Bill's thoughts were someone wanted that nice trailer and didn't know much about the custom. If you had seen the Silhouette in 1983, you would not recognize it. It was very shabby from sitting out in the weather where ever it had last been. It wasn't Bakersfield, cause this town only gets 3 to 5 inches of rain a year and this old hulk had seen some "weather". Wish the loss were really a mystery, but just the theft of a very good trailer with an old hulk on top that wasn't recognized for what it truly was....Mike Petty now in Kenai, Alaska 10/05/2013 @ 5:00 PM

 

It's a crying shame that the Silhouette hasn't been found yet. I'll bet there are a lot of us who grew up with a Hot Wheel of the Silhouette way back in the day. It was definitely a Top 3 fave of mine, right up there with the Lil Coffin and the Deora. I built the plastic scale models of them, too.

 

Mike Petty pretty much nailed the situation to a tee. To add some facts; the Silhouette became ugly from sitting out in a back yard at a friends house for years in Burbank. The Silhouette was always Candy Apple Red exect one year when a touring company leased it for a year and painted it snake skin green without dad's permission, boy was he pi$$ed. Back in the early 70's Dad had a Mongusta stolen from his shop as well. Fast forward to the early ninties and it was discovered in the Angles Crest National forest after a massive wildfire, less the engine and transmission, Maybe the Silhouette will be found the same way... Dad had to pay for the loss but had no recourse to the find. Gotta love insurance agencies.

Bill Cushenbery jr

 

Bmcush, glad to hear from you. I owned the El Matador in the seventies and have always followed the career of your dad. He built some of the wildest customs ever created, and I would have liked to have met him.
Hope the Silhouette is found as it was an icon from the greatest era in customizing.

 

Was just talking about Bill last night ( he was my Father's best friend) and was running through pictures and articles about him when I came across this thread.

Bill told us years ago that he believed that the car was destroyed. He didn't think something this unique would go missing for so long, that someone would have seen it, said something about it at some point. He was still very disgusted about the whole ordeal as if it had just happened yesterday. ( understandably so!!) that's not something you get over.

Sadly, our precious friend and my adopted "Uncle Bill" passed away in 2005

Good luck and if the car is still in one piece, I pray someone finds it! It would be a miracle and a thrill to see it!

 

How goes the Silhouette story ??? Anything else........

 

Jay,

Any further update on the bubble canopy or is this story over?

For what it's worth, I've always loved this futuristic car. It was lightyears ahead of it's time.

Jay K.