#Ed roth orbitron restored movie#
#Ed roth orbitron restored driver#

Over the years he worked with a variety of Kustom Kulture icons, including Robert Williams, Ed ‘Newt’ Newton (who drew the initial Orbitron sketches fresh out of Pasadena’s Art Center School) and Von Dutch when the two artists worked for the Brucker family’s Movie World theme park in the 1970s.Īs a result, the man nicknamed ‘Big Daddy’ influenced nearly every niche of the car hobby, from traditional hot rod and custom builders to lowriders and Detroit designers. Working the show car circuit in the 1960s, Roth promoted his bubble-topped customs, sold airbrushed monster t-shirts and promoted Revell model car kits based on his own designs and creations. Other Galpin Kustom Kulture artifacts include a replica of Grandpa Munster’s Dragula, a ’52 Lincoln Lido built by George ‘King of the Kustomizers’ Barris, Kenneth ‘Von Dutch’ Howard’s 1970 Toad, hand-made Von Dutch art, tools and firearms, and an XK140 Jaguar that was customized by ‘the Da Vinci of the garage.’Įd ‘Big Daddy’ Roth was a founder of what later became known as the Kustom Kulture movement, starting off his career as a painter and hot rod builder in the 1950s and eventually creating world-famous characters like Rat Fink and wild show cars such as The Outlaw, The Beatnik Bandit, Mysterion, and Rotar.

#Ed roth orbitron restored driver#

Once the car is restored to its former glory, Orbitron will join other Ed Roth cars in the Galpin Collection, including the Rotar (Roth Air Car) that was built in 1962 and actually hovered, the Globe Hopper three wheeled custom, The Great Speckled Bird chopper, as well as Roth’s daily driver Honda CVCC, which is covered in pinstriping and paint from his days as a sign painter at Knott’s Berry Farm. “Our goal is to make sure this piece of automotive history receives the accurate restoration it deserves.” “Being a huge fan of Big Daddy Roth, it’s a great privilege and honor, not only to own this car, but to bring it back to its former glory,” Boeckmann says. Ed ‘Big Daddy’ Roth’s Orbitron, a far-out bubble-topped show car built in 1964 and lost shortly thereafter, was recently uncovered in northern Mexico, serving as a makeshift dumpster in front of an adult bookshop! Michael Lightbourn – nicknamed ‘the West Texas Scout’ for his ability to find abandoned automotive treasures – spotted and rescued the fiberglass-bodied hot rod, which is missing its original acrylic bubble top and front end but is otherwise fairly complete, down to the original engine, chrome Astro wheels and most of its bodywork.īeau Boeckmann of Galpin Motors acquired the car shortly after its recovery from Mexico, and plans to completely restore the car to its original condition at Galpin Auto Sports (G.A.S.) with input from Roth experts and employees that were part of the original build. – A lost artifact from the pinnacle of the Custom era has been found, and what Hot Rod Magazine dubbed ‘the most incredible barn find ever’ is now in California for a complete and faithful restoration.