Ed "Big Daddy" Roth: His Life, Times, Cars, and Art [Hardcover]

Pat Ganahl (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 19, 2003

Who was Ed Roth? The answer depends on who you ask and when they knew him. To some, he was a counter-culture, greasy-fingernailed, renaissance man of the mid-20th Century. To others, he's the creator of Rat Fink and builder of some of the most creative custom cars to ever get a coat of candy paint, cars like the Beatnik Bandit, the Mysterion, and the Outlaw. Some knew him as a devout Mormon, others recall a Harley-riding hellion with a devilish glint in his eye. He was a force of nature and a creative genius whose work had a profound influence on popular culture and helped spawn numerous subcultures. Big Daddy's rise to fame began in the '50s, and peaked with the custom car boom of the early '60s. This book covers it all, from art to custom cars, monster shirts to VW-powered trikes, and the wild life that brought it all together.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Emanating from southern California's hot rod and surfing scenes, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth's art captivated the nation--well, young breeder males, at least--in the years around 1960. Ganahl's coffee-table biography is a cornucopia of facts and color reproductions, including tee-shirt shop and county fair perennial Rat Fink and plenty of Roth's wild, customized vehicles. Rat Fink may have been created "to show what Mickey Mouse's father . . . looked like," but as underground comics god and former Roth staffer Robert Williams says, "It was the cars that made Ed." Roth rivaled George Barris in flamboyant hot rod designs, and his were "the first," Ganahl avers, "to take the automobile . . . into the irrational world of abstract thought." With their fanciful lines, monstrous motors, and palpable attitude, early triumphs like Outlaw and Beatnik Bandit attracted attention at auto shows. When plastic model kits of Roth cars and characters appeared, he became famous, and Rat Fink became a pop-cultural icon. Ganahl's text occasionally wanders, but as a pictorial archive, this package is peerless. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Pat Ganahl is the author of several CarTech books, including definitive works on Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and Von Dutch. He is a life-long hot rodder and has been the editor of Street Rodder, Hot Rod, Rod & Custom, and The Rodder's Journal. He lives in Southern California. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: CarTech (April 19, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1884089682
• ISBN-13: 978-1884089688
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 10.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,105,160 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good story on Big Daddy and his creations, December 31, 2003

By 

Pard ""Somewhere in the High Sierra"" (Maryland, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ed "Big Daddy" Roth: His Life, Times, Cars, and Art (Hardcover)

I was the primary audience for Roth's work back in the '60's -- my friends and I would have sleepover parties where we'd read car magazines and build model cars all night long. Roth's creations were just so outrageous at the time and they brought a lot of excitement to the hot rod scene. I remember first seeing the "Rat Fink" and thinking how over the top it was, and wondering what my mom would say if I brought home a Rat Fink model or T-shirt.

I had to get this book as soon as I saw it and I'm glad I did. It brings back so many good memories of those times. While not a true biography of Big Daddy, it does a great job of covering his life and has plenty of detail on all of his cars and other works. The book also has lots of great photos; the author spent a lot of time gathering as many existing photos of the Roth empire as he could. The author also interviewed as many people as he could find who were associated with Roth, and they have some funny and interesting stories to tell.

If you're at all interested in hot rods or hot rod history and the effect that Roth had on the culture, this book is recommended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real renaissance man of the 1960s, February 8, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ed "Big Daddy" Roth: His Life, Times, Cars, and Art (Hardcover)

Ed "Big Daddy" Roth was a real renaissance man of the 1960s: creator of Rat Fink, builder of creative custom cars, and a Mormon beatnick who refused to fit in anyone's mold. Ed "Big Daddy" Roth: His Life, Time, Cars, and Art is an engaging and informative biography that charts his rise to fame in general and his skills building custom cars in particular, and comes from an author who met Ed in the mid-1970s and regularly covered his exploits. Nearly 300 photos - many new to this collection-charts his creations and his art, and will appeal to any who know his name.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Trip Back, May 27, 2007

By 

Marty Oster (Pacifica, CA. USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ed "Big Daddy" Roth: His Life, Times, Cars, and Art (Hardcover)

For me, a guy, who lived and breathed the hot rod, surf and music scene of the 60's, this book brings back a necessary component of the time. Relive and remember the essence of the time through Ed Roth who's artwork and cars seemed to be on the tip of everyone's tongue. We all knew the "Rat Fink" and we all knew "Big Daddy". Now he lives forever in this definitive work.