In the last two decades, as art museums and other institutions have begun taking a closer look at pop culture, Roth and his peers gained more respect from the academics who had long dismissed their works as lowbrow. His fans admired the energy and anti-establishment attitude he carried throughout his life. “I know what I am,” Roth told The Times in 1973. The company canceled his contract in 1967. Revell, however, lost its love for Roth when he began hanging out with members of the Hells Angels as his interest in customizing motorcycles grew. Roth, who was 6 feet 4, mentioned that he had been called “Big Ed” in high school, so the publicist suggested “Big Daddy,” which Roth loved.

It was a Revell publicity man who came up with Roth’s nickname after telling him, “We can’t put ‘Beatnik Bandit by Ed Roth’ on the box.” The Revell company sold millions of Big Daddy Roth model car kits, from which Roth received a royalty of 1 cent each. The character’s wise-guy, street smart attitude lives on in such descendants as Bart Simpson, Ren & Stimpy and the foulmouthed “South Park” kids. Rat Fink’s sinister glare, razor-sharp teeth and bulging, bloodshot eyes became ubiquitous on T-shirts, posters and car decals in the ‘60s. Roth developed Rat Fink in the ‘50s as the underground culture’s response to Mickey Mouse. “His stuff was all outrageous,” said Dick Messer at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, where the Outlaw car now resides. Nora Donnelly, who organized the “Customized” exhibition for the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, where it premiered last fall, said: “An enormous amount of people have been influenced by him, in the hot rod art world as well as in the contemporary art world.” “He and Von Dutch and Robert Williams represent the trio of legendary figures who really shaped the aesthetics of hot rod culture and the art that came from it.” “He really is the Big Daddy,” Fleurov said. His influence on the culture of Southern California was huge, said Ellen Fleurov, museum director at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, where Roth’s works are on display in “Customized: Art Inspired by Hot Rods, Lowriders and American Car Culture.” He had first gained fame with the Beatnik Bandit in 1958 and a fiberglass hot rod called the Outlaw in 1959. In fact, Roth had been at work Wednesday morning on the latest in a long line of custom vehicles. The cause of death had not been determined, Chodosh said Thursday, but he said Roth had been in good health. Roth’s wife, Ilene, found him dead Wednesday in his workshop near their home in Manti, Utah, said his business associate and friend, David Chodosh. It takes an artistic eye to build a car like this and I’m sure “Big Daddy” Roth would think this car is pretty cool.Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, the sign painter turned car designer whose outrageous automotive creations and grungy cartoon alter ego, Rat Fink, made him an outlaw icon of Southern California pop culture of the 1950s and ‘60s, has died. It reminds me of the custom cars that Ian Roussel builds. The radical chop and stance on this car really accentuate the cartoon style of this car. The dash looks functional with a quick-release steering wheel, a big tachometer, and a couple of other gauges. There are certainly no creature comforts, but with a hot rod like this, you don’t need much. The interior features a nice pair of bomber-style seats.

The rear end is a 9″ Ford which handles getting the power from the engine to the wide rear tires. There isn’t much information in the ad regarding the powertrain, but the engine is a 427 cubic inch V8 backed by a power glide transmission. Check out more photos of this car below and if you’re interested in more information on Roth or Rat Fink, you can find it here on. Located in Broadview Heights, Ohio, the seller says this car is a show winner. According to, “After he placed Rat Fink art on an airbrushed monster shirt, the character soon came to symbolize the entire hot-rod/Kustom Kulture scene of the 1950s and 1960s.” This awesome 1931 Rat Fink-inspired hot rod can be found here on eBay with an asking price of $17,000, the current bid is at $1,925. Supposedly Roth’s dislike for Micky Mouse led him to create Rat Fink. Roth’s art continues to remain popular today and one of his most iconic characters is Rat Fink. They include Barris, Winfield, Hines, Edelbrock, Petersen, and of course Ed Roth. There are a handful of names that are considered the “Godfathers” of hot rodding.

Rat fink hot rods