I know quite a bit about this (the original “real” car)….It was purchased new in 1954 by Richard Korkess of Highland Ave. in Whippany New Jersey. The car was customized originally by “Korky” with a red and white paint job separated by ’55 Pontiac side chrome. In front it had frenched headlights, 1954 Pontiac grille, spot lights, skirts and a continentle kit. The tail lights were 1956 olds 98 that were frenched in. At that time it had a 272 cu. inch OHV with overdrive transmission. The second makeover started in the late 50′s and had two different versions of front ends. The rear end was nearly the same on both versions. Korky was doing a lot of 1/2 tops at that time. He did one for Art Gugliemme and another for George Pillion. Those cars were also beautifully done. Bob Giblock worked for Korky during this era, and was responsible for a lot of the fabrication on these cars. Later in life Korky lived in Canoga Park California caring for his aging mother, and the car was stored in its original condition in the garge behind the house. When I visited him, the car looked like a storage bin for whatever would fit inside. It showed all of the splendor it once had if you looked hard enough to find it. The original car is now owned or should I say is “cared” for by a gentleman in Chino Valley, Arizona. It needs a complete restoration. As a side note, Korky is still doing bodywork and his talent with lead and metal is undisputed. He recently chopped a top on a ’40 Mercury here in Arizona for Dave Hawkins. The clone tribute to Korky’s original was built and is owned by Joe Sulpy. Joe has recently relocated from New Jersey to the Phoenix area in Arizona. He is starting his new shop and we expect him to enjoy the good weather and build some exciting cars.

Different but cool!

Thanks Fred!

so wats the car based off of?

That is awesome. Very custom and very cool!

The original was built by John Korkes of Morris Township NJ and that’s why it has NJ plates. It was common to see it in my home town of Morris Plains NJ. Korky THEN went to Claifornia to work for George Barris. This car was not built for Barris , Korky built it for himself. Dick Sulpy worked for Nostalgia Motors in Boonton NJ in the late 90′s, I rented one of my industrial properties ot Nostalgia Motors from 1992 to 2006 and it was during that tiem that their employee Dick Sulpy built the “new” Parisienne on his own time both at his own shop and at the place he worked at, Nostalgia Motors.

The internet is great, but much unverified information gets posted and then it becomes “fact”. See the postings here that say the origial car was “discovered”.

NOte the magazine is a 1960 issue and the hood of the Parisienne Sulpy built is from a ’61 or ’62 T-Bird. Korky modified the original front of the Parisienne and used a newer hood. I do not recall exactly what hood was on it when I saw it in the 50′s.

And , no, Elvis did not own it!!!

Fred Kanter
Kanter Auto Products
Boonton NJ

Dave–if you can find the article, let us know and we’ll do a follow up. Thanks!

wow it actoually looks modern still. And it sure beats a ferrari

This isnt a replica, this is the original, someone found it in a barn or something a few years ago, just read the whole article in the most recent kar kulture deluxe or ol skool rodz magazine, forget which one.