All-metal build
Red exterior and a red cloth interior with black trim
350 CID V-8 engine
Turbo Hydramatic 350 three-speed automatic transmission
S-10 chassis with a tilt-up front end with quad Lucas headlights
Air-conditioning, power steering, power brakes and tilt steering column
Older stereo system
Appeared in Kustoms Illustrated magazine
There are lead sleds and there are lead sleds, creative custom cars from the George Barris era. El Matador started as a custom lead sled designed and built by Bill Cushenbery and Don Varner between 1959 and 1961. It was his first show car.
After a garage fire that torched the car and made other people denounce it as unrepairable, Harold Murphy was determined to restore El Matador after he bought it on March 10, 1993. The first step was to sandblast the entire car then to reform the car’s shape as much as possible. The rebuilding process started with the floorpan and worked its way up.
With parts from a donor 1940 Ford car the previous owner had in storage, this all-metal tribute to El Matador started to form. This tribute vehicle has a chassis from a Chevrolet S-10 pickup with a tilt-up front end and extended front fenders. Finished in a gorgeous red, the finished car looks gorgeous. The view from the side looks like something out of a live-action Dick Tracy film. The car featured vertically-stacked, inward-canted Lucas headlights (a common customizing idea during the period), with hand-formed steel front end and chrome mesh grille.
This replica rolls on American Classic wide whitewall tires, size P205/75R14 at all four corners. Ford custom wheel covers are in very good order as are the tires.
The engine is this tribute is a 350 CID small-block Chevrolet V-8 with air-conditioning, power steering and power brakes. The motor is backed by a Turbo Hydramatic 350 three-speed automatic transmission. The engine breathes via dual exhausts. Driver convenience features include air-conditioning, power steering and power brakes.
Inside, the car’s interior upholstered in red with black trim. The cloth bucket seats are in very good order, as is the black carpet and matching inner door panels. The red, custom, hand-made dashboard designed by Cushenbery comes with a full array of gauges, a four-spoke steering wheel with a black rim and a tilt steering column, also from a Chevy S-10. A floor-mounted shifter and an older stereo system complete the interior. There is also a windshield-mounted traffic light viewer.
Cushenbery began work on El Matador in late 1959 as a showcase for his talents and a rolling advertisement. It started as a 1939 Ford, chopped 4 1/2 inches and sectioned five inches. 1957 Oldsmobile parking lights were used as taillights. The nerf bar bumpers were adapted from upper bumper rails off of a 1950 Pontiac.
He scrounged parts from Seaside Auto Wreckers, operated by Vick Irvan (father of Ernie Irvan). The rear window was a windshield from a 1951 Chevrolet fastback, mounted upside-down. The windshield came from a Nash-Healey. The engine came from an Oldsmobile.
El Matador debuted in February 1961 at the Oakland Roadster Show.
Cushenbery sold the car to Bob Larivee, Sr. AMT owned the car during the 1960s and Budd Anderson drove it to shows all over the country for AMT. While AMT owned the car, Bud had the Oldsmobile engine swapped for a small-block Ford. The transmission and rear-end were replaced at the same time. The engine swap was done by Dearborn Steel Tubing.
Frank Koss bought the car from AMT for $1,400. While Frank owned the car, he had his buddy Jack Florence repaint the car in Cadillac Ember Frost. Frank later advertised the car for sale for $3000. He had no buyers so he traded the car to Carl Casper for a 1963 Cadillac Convertible. Carl Casper continued to tour the El Matador after he bought it.
John McNally bought the car in the 1970s, and brought it to Florida where he lived. Bob Nugent owned the car in the late 1970s. He drove it for
Red exterior and a red cloth interior with black trim
350 CID V-8 engine
Turbo Hydramatic 350 three-speed automatic transmission
S-10 chassis with a tilt-up front end with quad Lucas headlights
Air-conditioning, power steering, power brakes and tilt steering column
Older stereo system
Appeared in Kustoms Illustrated magazine
There are lead sleds and there are lead sleds, creative custom cars from the George Barris era. El Matador started as a custom lead sled designed and built by Bill Cushenbery and Don Varner between 1959 and 1961. It was his first show car.
After a garage fire that torched the car and made other people denounce it as unrepairable, Harold Murphy was determined to restore El Matador after he bought it on March 10, 1993. The first step was to sandblast the entire car then to reform the car’s shape as much as possible. The rebuilding process started with the floorpan and worked its way up.
With parts from a donor 1940 Ford car the previous owner had in storage, this all-metal tribute to El Matador started to form. This tribute vehicle has a chassis from a Chevrolet S-10 pickup with a tilt-up front end and extended front fenders. Finished in a gorgeous red, the finished car looks gorgeous. The view from the side looks like something out of a live-action Dick Tracy film. The car featured vertically-stacked, inward-canted Lucas headlights (a common customizing idea during the period), with hand-formed steel front end and chrome mesh grille.
This replica rolls on American Classic wide whitewall tires, size P205/75R14 at all four corners. Ford custom wheel covers are in very good order as are the tires.
The engine is this tribute is a 350 CID small-block Chevrolet V-8 with air-conditioning, power steering and power brakes. The motor is backed by a Turbo Hydramatic 350 three-speed automatic transmission. The engine breathes via dual exhausts. Driver convenience features include air-conditioning, power steering and power brakes.
Inside, the car’s interior upholstered in red with black trim. The cloth bucket seats are in very good order, as is the black carpet and matching inner door panels. The red, custom, hand-made dashboard designed by Cushenbery comes with a full array of gauges, a four-spoke steering wheel with a black rim and a tilt steering column, also from a Chevy S-10. A floor-mounted shifter and an older stereo system complete the interior. There is also a windshield-mounted traffic light viewer.
Cushenbery began work on El Matador in late 1959 as a showcase for his talents and a rolling advertisement. It started as a 1939 Ford, chopped 4 1/2 inches and sectioned five inches. 1957 Oldsmobile parking lights were used as taillights. The nerf bar bumpers were adapted from upper bumper rails off of a 1950 Pontiac.
He scrounged parts from Seaside Auto Wreckers, operated by Vick Irvan (father of Ernie Irvan). The rear window was a windshield from a 1951 Chevrolet fastback, mounted upside-down. The windshield came from a Nash-Healey. The engine came from an Oldsmobile.
El Matador debuted in February 1961 at the Oakland Roadster Show.
Cushenbery sold the car to Bob Larivee, Sr. AMT owned the car during the 1960s and Budd Anderson drove it to shows all over the country for AMT. While AMT owned the car, Bud had the Oldsmobile engine swapped for a small-block Ford. The transmission and rear-end were replaced at the same time. The engine swap was done by Dearborn Steel Tubing.
Frank Koss bought the car from AMT for $1,400. While Frank owned the car, he had his buddy Jack Florence repaint the car in Cadillac Ember Frost. Frank later advertised the car for sale for $3000. He had no buyers so he traded the car to Carl Casper for a 1963 Cadillac Convertible. Carl Casper continued to tour the El Matador after he bought it.
John McNally bought the car in the 1970s, and brought it to Florida where he lived. Bob Nugent owned the car in the late 1970s. He drove it for