Glory Days of So-Cal Kustoms – “The Marquis”

If you think old skool So-Cal kustoms are the living end, check out the the Marquis, a radical show car from the golden age of Cali builders. Conjured up by Bill Cushenbery for Gene Boucher, this swoopy, heavily reworked 1956 Ford Hardtop made several major magazine covers and generated a lot of buzz back in the day. This rolling time capsule now calls Sacramento home and is currently up for sale. Kustomrama has more details and photos for your perusal.

Built at Cushenbery’s shop in Monterey, California, the Marquis debuted at the San Mateo Autorama in January of 1962 and was a dazzling kaleidoscope of borrowed production car jewlery and cool, period customization tricks.

See if you can spot the following bits and pieces: ’59 Buick fins with V-shaped winglets at each tip, canted ’59 Pontiac taillights, slanted quad Lucas headlights on top of chrome bullets, custom front and rear grills, radiused rear wheel wells, and a 6-inch sectioned body.

Cushenbery added his own homecooked touches as well including an asymmetrical hood peak and scalloped body detailing which was all the rage back in the early sixties.The car was finished in Candy Gold with a white vinyl top, a naugahyde tuck and roll interior and packed Thunderbird power and a trusty Fordomatic.

Boucher owned the car until he passed away and in the years following his death, the Marquis sadly fell into despair. The car went through several owners until it luckily found a caring sheppard in Bud Millard, who still owns the car today. With the assistance of Jerry Sahagon and John Aiello, the Marquis was restored in 2000 and now spends most of it’s time collecting dust at various museums. That’s a shame.