Peterson Automotive Museum Honoree Ed Roth - Cult Cartoonist and Kustom Hot Rod Legend

Few automotive cult figures better symbolize the rebellious nature of the 1960's hot rod movement than Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. Best known for his now iconic "Rat Fink" cartoon, widely regarded as the alter ego of Disney's Mickey Mouse,Roth's designs represented the dawn of a counterculture era. Roth was the first to capitalize on a successful formula for combining cartoon characters with automobilia. His trademark designs were popularized on everything from T-shirts to wild hotrods and customs.

Roth's legacy began in Southern California in the mid-1950s when he established his reputation as a custom pinstriper and painter of flames.He then branched out into what he called "weirdo shirts," which donned famed airbrushed creations such as grotesque heads surrounded by flames - a high fashion of the Southern California street racing scene.

In 1959 he opened Roth Studios, and throughout the next decade he pushed the envelope of car customization by developing a highly recognizable iconography that he imprinted on shirts, jackets, and decals. The "Rat Fink" is the most popular of the bizarre creatures fashioned by Roth. The strikingly homely rodent is today considered the archetypal Roth monster quickly became the darling of the counterculture revolution.

Proof of Roth's influence came to fruition with RM Auctions Brucker Brothers collection sale at the Petersen Museum this past May when the work of Roth and his hot rod contemporaries sold for record breaking prices to a packed crowd of enthusiasts. The sale included much of Roth's most notable work such as sketches "Rat Fink's Revenge" which garnered an incredible $9,775 and "Brother Rat Fink" which sold for a whopping $25,300 nearly three times its estimated value.

The Petersen Automotive Museum "Ed Roth - The Original Rat Fink" exhibit gathers some of the most significant automobiles and designs of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth's career including:

OutlawThe Outlaw has a custom frame fitted with a 1949 Cadillac ohv V8 and laid with fiberglass over a hand-carved plaster form sculpting a swooping and fanciful custom body. Featured on the cover of Car Craft in 1960, it immediately propelled Roth to star status on the custom car scene.

Beatnik Bandit & RotarThe Beatnik Bandit, created in 1961, incorporates a bubble canopy and joystick-style controls. In addition, inspired by the burgeoning "space race," Roth created Rotar (the Roth Air Car). Powered by two triumph motorcycle engines, and weighing just 750 pounds, Rotar was able to hover several inches above the ground. A Roth Studios postcard of the era proclaimed "There is a remote possibility that this will be the first car to reach the MOON."

Mysterion & Road AgentRoth's Mysterion debuted in 1963. Built on a custom frame, it was an experiment in asymmetrical design. One year later, Roth introduced the Road Agent. Named after a popular slang term for a bounty hunter or hit man, the mid-engined bubble-topper roadster was powered by a 1960 Chevrolet Corvair flat six engine.

During the heyday of his creativity, Roth was quoted by author Tom Wolfe as saying "Detroit is beginning to understand that there are just a hell of a lot of these bad kids in the United States and they are growing up.And they want a better car. They don't want an old man's car."

Roth's genius lies in the fact he had uncovered what the youth of the era craved, a quality evidenced by the fact that he was building counterculture cars for the market Detroit neglected.

The Petersen Automotive Museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, a pioneer in automotive education, and one of the nation's largest and preeminent automotive museums. The Museum is located at 6060 Wilshire Boulevard (at Fairfax) in Los Angeles. Admission prices are $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and students with ID, and $3 for children ages 5 to 12. Museum members and children under five are admitted free. Covered parking is available for $6.00 per car. Museum hours are Tuesday through Sunday and holiday Mondays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For general Museum information, call (323) 930-CARS or visit the Museum's web site address at www.petersen.org