Orange County Register

Ed “Big Daddy” Roth built some of the most fantastic custom cars of all time — the Outlaw, the Beatnik Bandit, the Mysterion — and most of those cars are in expensive museum pieces today.

But the whereabouts of one his creations, the Orbitron, had remained a mystery, seemingly lost, possibly destroyed.

Until today, when word of its discovery started circulating on car club message boards:

“The car was found in Mexico. It was used in a carnival for several years and then as a trash can in front of an adult book store until just last week,” read the bulletin that set off a long thread of excited conversation.

Roth, who spent much of the Seventies living and working in Orange County, died a few years ago, but thanks to the enduring popularity of Kustom Kulture cars and art — including his counterculture icon, Rat Fink — his legend continues to grow.

Kustom Kulture artist Coop points out that while Roth never really considered the Orbitron a complete success, it is the car at the center of ”The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby,” author Tom Wolfe’s influential mid-60s book that helped define Kustom Kulture as a movement.

And that explains why the car guys are a-twitter today, like this one, again from the message boards:

“It’s like when Pinnochio gets stuck in the land of the lost boys… smoking cigars and playin’ pool. Someone bring that poor car home!”

– Pedro

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