Folks Of Interest Ed "Big Daddy" Roth

Do you still have the bike? HRP

 

I have his book

 

Couple of shots I took at Detroit Autorama when a collection of big daddy's cars were displayed. I met him there years before these pictures were taken where he showed me some pictures of some modified lawnmowers he was building and drew me a personalized rat fink on my show program that I got framed on my wall.

 

I met Ed at the Lewiston ID World of Wheels show in the mid 90's. Ed was my hero growing up, I collected anything Rat Fink I could find. My Dad drove my Brother and I 100 miles to the show to meet him. I drug a bunch of stuff with me and Ed signed it all and we talked to him for quite a while. I wrote him a letter later (using the address from the business card he gave me) and he wrote back a very nice note telling me to follow my dreams, listen to my folks and god. I was 13-14? He still is my hero. He made an impression on me. He was a great guy loved by many.

 

Here's the letter he sent me when I wrote him back in the late seventies or early eighties.

 

That's cool.HRP

 

OK I am not really wanting to tell much about me to the new crowd and most of the old crowd already know the story. But for those who don't I have this shift knob which I have considered to be my lucky shift knob for a very long time, like close to 60 years long time.





It is old a crazed these days and I cannot count the cars it has been in. I actually have a more recent story to tell about it but I digress.

I had been in the hospital with my legs (long story but it happened quite a few times when I was pretty little). This knob just happens to be out of this car.



(note I stole this pic off the web).

As it goes I was home from the hospital and a bunch of the Ol 'Man's Friends came up on a Saturday. A welcome home Benno. Mr Roth took me for a ride and I was playing with the shift knob. I don't remember exactly what was said but it was along the lines of, "Do you like that shift knob son? Here welcome home." He spun it off and gave it to me.

He lifted me out of the car and walked right over to the Ol' Man's roadster and spun his knob off and looked at him and said, "Well John I always liked this knob. Oh the kid's got yours now."

 

Thanks Beaner, I'm a 68 year old kid that really enjoyed reading that story.


Bob

 

Now that's about as cool as it gets my friend.

Did he make you take your shoes off before you rode in Tweety Pie ?HRP

 

In the 90s at his booth at the LARS I was looking at his stuff and listening. A dad and his 12 or so year old son stopped by. The dad told Ed that his son loved Ed's art and was working hard at his own Roth inspired artwork. It was like everything stopped. Ed gave the kid his full attention and pointers on developing his style. I remember him saying "Ya gotta get the wheels right" or something close to that. It was a really cool moment.

Lee

 

That's a bad ass story Beaner. Snowman

 

Roth's little jewel. HRP

 

I actually built the Tweety Pie model as a kid. HRP

 

Ask Robert Williams about his stint with Roth and the big shoot out at his place.

 

A '60's tv show, "the great american dream machine," or similar? Had a clip of him riding a V8 trike along side a car, recording the pass. Roth, "Everybody should have one of these mothers," as he roared off!

 

Wow beaner, what a cool story! That's the way Ed Roth was. I only met him once. I had went to Carlisle Pa. to a Goodguys show. I can't remember the year? But I took my daughter along with her little 1937 Ford pedal car stroller, that I had made for her. It was a thrill when I saw Ed. there selling tee shirts. I told him how much that his art, models, and Rods had influenced me even as a kid. He couldn't have been any nicer! I had an VHS cam-recorder with me. He told me to turn it on, and start filming. He then got down on one knee beside the pedal car. He started talking to my daughter. {He said to her}. You have one of the COOLEST HOT RODS here today. After a few minutes he stopped, and took out a marker and autographed her little roadster. I need to find that old vhs tape, and put it on a disc. I hung around his booth for most of the afternoon. One of my best days EVER!!! The photos are of my daughter in her pedal car back then, and one of my grandson in it now. Ron....

 

It took me a little while, but I found the letter Ed wrote me answering a letter I sent to him in 96. I would have been 14. He also sent me these old order forms for T shirts. Man, I was on cloud 9 that day opening the mail box and seeing that return address logo.... Rest In Peace Big Daddy....

 

way too cool. i am speechless

 

I currently have a customers 49 Chevy delivery in my shop I`m working on. It has Rat Fink on the license plate. In the early 60`s he discovered Roth and his art work. He became a sign painter and a pinstriper and made a lifelong career out of it.

 

Ed lettered this sign for me in 1987. The midget is in Denver now, in Ron Leslie's collection, but I still have the sign.

 

Kim Dedic who as I mentioned above hosted the original Rat Fink party’s and was a striper/sign painter ALSO drove an early chevy delivery for his daily driver and work car. It was a 46-8 though, can’t remember which year exactly.

 

He was thinking about what to put on it for a design on the side. I made a suggestion, and he loved the idea. His wife also liked it. I`ll wait and post it if he does a doodling of it. You guys would love it. He is gonna come by in a few days so I will see if he can do it for me.

 

Brother don't I wish. In 1982 I was riding back to work after lunch and got hit by a chick who was looking the other way. I went to the hospital, the bike went into the dumpster.
I'm still kinda sore about that.
Even though I rolled off the car, she tried to get away and dragged my bike about 50 feet, till the cop stopped her.

 

Kim's panel was a '48. It had a six cylinder with a 4 barrel and a powerglide. All of the stripers did art on the walls of his shop in Fullerton. Roth did some great art there. When Kim left the shop, the landlord made him paint all of the walls ….. a shame.

 

Frankie Costanza ('Von Franco') was admiring Ed's work on a weirdo shirt at San Jose Autorama. (not sure of year, maybe 1958?)
Frankie: "Ed didn't have a 'booth', was just inside the roped off space with 4 show cars. Ed had an easel and a large box with sweat shirts, paints and a small compressor..."

I can remember Ed 'setting up' in this manner, there in San Jose, no 'booth', just the easel and a lower toolbox. (Craftsman? Black, with paint runs and trial splotches all over?)

According to Frankie, Ed invited him in, and said "Here, draw something."

 

Yeah his shop was pretty cool. His real passion was scale model railroading. He had a big track in his back yard with mountains and city's for the track to go through.
When my son was a baby I found an old wagon on my wife's grand parents cherry farm and it turned out to have been her dads when he was a kid in the late 30s. They gave it to me and I fixed it up for our son. Kim did the lettering, and now my grandson has it.

 

One of my favorites.........

 

Here is a picture of the poster from Ed Roth’s final show at Moon Eyes. I don’t know why the colors didn’t come out they are ver vibrant. Hobo Jim

 

Here's me before weight watchers, yeah right, at the SoCal open house in my autographed RF shirt with one of my other Hot Rod Heros.