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Ratfink gone
Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, godfather of hot rod culture, dies at 69
By Paul Chavez
April 6, 2001 | LOS ANGELES (AP) --
Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, whose fantastic car creations and anti-hero Rat Fink
character helped define the California hotrod culture of the 1950s and '60s,
has died. He was 69.
Roth died Wednesday at his studio in Manti, Utah, said Joe Bennett, a
dispatcher with the Sanpete County Sheriff's Department. The cause of death
wasn't immediately given.
A generation of teen-age rebels across the country found a hero in Roth,
whose chrome and fiberglass creations stirred awe at car shows. Many adopted
his airbrushed anti-hero, the bug-eyed, menacing Rat Fink, who became a
cultural counterpoint to Mickey Mouse.
While Roth worked on custom cars in his garage-studio near Los Angeles,
youngsters across the country broke out the airplane glue to work on
intricate scale plastic models of his "Outlaw" roadster, bubble-topped
"Beatnik Bandit," or futuristic "Mysterion."
As a designer, Roth was considered a genius and visionary, not only for his
radical designs, but also for his pioneering use of fiberglass in car bodies.
He was described by author Tom Wolfe in his 1964 essay "The Kandy-Kolored
Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby" as the "most colorful, the most intellectual
and the most capricious" of the car customizers.
"He's the Salvador Dali of the movement -- a surrealist in his designs, a
showman by temperament, a prankster," Wolfe wrote.
Roth created Rat Fink and a host of wild characters to help finance his car
design work.
In 1974, he converted to the Mormon church and abandoned his rebel lifestyle,
however he continued to work on car designs.
"My fanaticism with cars has just destroyed my personal life," he told The
Associated Press in a 1997 interview. "It's an obsession, an addiction. Every
day I pray to God, `Release me from my calling!"'
David Chodosh, a friend and business associate, said Roth was still working
at the time of his death and was hoping to tour a new car in 2002.
"The guy over the years has epitomized cool," Chodosh said. "Even now, in so
many ways, he is still the Boss Fink."
Moon Eyes Japan division says "Good Bye" to a crazy pinstriper.
|
Ratfink gone
Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, godfather of hot rod culture, dies at 69
By Paul Chavez April 6, 2001 | LOS ANGELES (AP) --
Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, whose fantastic car creations and anti-hero Rat Fink character helped define the California hotrod culture of the 1950s and '60s, has died. He was 69. Roth died Wednesday at his studio in Manti, Utah, said Joe Bennett, a dispatcher with the Sanpete County Sheriff's Department. The cause of death wasn't immediately given. A generation of teen-age rebels across the country found a hero in Roth, whose chrome and fiberglass creations stirred awe at car shows. Many adopted his airbrushed anti-hero, the bug-eyed, menacing Rat Fink, who became a cultural counterpoint to Mickey Mouse. While Roth worked on custom cars in his garage-studio near Los Angeles, youngsters across the country broke out the airplane glue to work on intricate scale plastic models of his "Outlaw" roadster, bubble-topped "Beatnik Bandit," or futuristic "Mysterion." As a designer, Roth was considered a genius and visionary, not only for his radical designs, but also for his pioneering use of fiberglass in car bodies. He was described by author Tom Wolfe in his 1964 essay "The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby" as the "most colorful, the most intellectual and the most capricious" of the car customizers. "He's the Salvador Dali of the movement -- a surrealist in his designs, a showman by temperament, a prankster," Wolfe wrote. Roth created Rat Fink and a host of wild characters to help finance his car design work. In 1974, he converted to the Mormon church and abandoned his rebel lifestyle, however he continued to work on car designs. "My fanaticism with cars has just destroyed my personal life," he told The Associated Press in a 1997 interview. "It's an obsession, an addiction. Every day I pray to God, `Release me from my calling!"' David Chodosh, a friend and business associate, said Roth was still working at the time of his death and was hoping to tour a new car in 2002. "The guy over the years has epitomized cool," Chodosh said. "Even now, in so many ways, he is still the Boss Fink."
- bill 4-06-2001 5:06 pm
Moon Eyes Japan division says "Good Bye" to a crazy pinstriper.
- bill 4-14-2001 3:30 pm [add a comment]