1961 Beatnik Bandit

Beatnik Band, Outlaw, Rat Fink, Great Speckled Bird, Druid Princess, Road Agent, Yellow Fang and Wishbone-these are names of just some of the show cars created by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth in the early 1960's. In the early 1950's, Roth was the first to put illustrations on sweat-shirts and T-shirts, using felt pens at first. He then began using an air pencil (a commercial cake decorating tool) which was the early version of the air brush used today. Roth created the "Outlaw" in 1959 as a promotional attraction for his expanding T-shirt business and more and more of his time was spent on his fiberglass custom car creations. The "Beatnik Bandit" displayed here was his next project and became Roth's most famous show car. Roth acquired a 1949 Oldsmobile chassis and running gear. The chassis was shortened five feet. The Olds OHV engine was given the classic hot rod look with a GMC blower and twin Ford carburetors. Everything was chromed but the blower belt. The interior is finished in white naughabyde with deep padding and a unique single control "joy" stick that operates turning, throttle and braking. The paint scheme features white pearlescence with gold and brown tone panels, mixed with black and white matching stripes. The bubble top was manufactured as a one-off item in a pizza oven, using compressed air to inflate the sheet of clear acrylic plastic into a dome.

Roth's Beatnik Bandit was selected as one of Hot Rod Magazine's Top Ten Hot Rods. Many of Roth's creations, including the Beatnik Bandit, were sold as plastic models by Revell and as "Hot Wheels" miniature cards made by Mattel.