In Memorium

March 4, 1932
to April 4, 2001

Ed "Big Daddy" Roth was a true representative of the Southern California generation blossoming in the years after World War II. He was born in Beverly Hills into a German speaking household but grew up in Bell, among the industrial, no-pretense working-class cities southeast of downtown. The landscape, from Boyle Heights to Long Beach, was the engine of hot rod culture. Teens were chopping and channeling their vehicles; joining car clubs; wearing army surplus jackets, triple-soled shoes, pleated khakis, and white T-shirts. Meanwhile, workers in the factories along the L.A. River were bringing home new materials like fiberglass and Bondo and improved welding and spray-painting techniques. Roth soaked up the culture and the fumes, and all of it transformed him.

Ed became Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, a hot-roddin' gear head, mad scientist, and struggling artist who financed his inventions by selling drawings and t-shirts at drag events, fairs, and car shows. Ed would draw cartoons of monsters that he created and pictures of cars. But when he personally airbrushed t-shirts with the monsters driving the cars, people went crazy and would line up at his booth. Roth chariots like "Surfite," "Beatnik Bandit," and "Rotar" were the crown jewels of a California craftsmanship bubbling up from the oily puddles on garage floors. Throughout the '60s Roth took his cars on the national hot rod show circuit, where he became the popular face of the custom-car craze.

Ed's most popular monster was Rat Fink. Rat Fink was gross decades before gross was cool. Rat Fink started as a drawing that Ed had put on his refrigerator. "Big Daddy" was a genius at designing cars, but it was Rat Fink that brought him fame. By 1963, teenagers across America were buying Rat Fink model kits and mass-produced Rat Fink T-shirts.

Revell American produced model car kits that featured the "Beatnik Bandit" and "Road Agent". Other model kits included "Rat Fink" and the gang, a group of hot rodding monsters. Here is a very interesting note: During 1963 Revell paid Ed a one cent royalty for each model sold. Ed brought in $32,000 that year in royalties. Now figure out the math. That's how popular Ed's creations were.

"Big Daddy" passed away on April 4, 2001.

Sources: Los Angeles Magazine June, 2001, mrgasser.com and edroth.com