I don’t care how many different manufacturers were pieced together in the build. A lot of people still today build things out of what’s on hand.Not to everyone’s taste, but regardless you cannot deny credit to what father & son created. Although, I think this car should be forever. What once was, does not mean it will forever be. Think of it like the inflation of dollars, then dollars vs. Let’s see the majority of readers create something today that would stand up. Considering all the crazy ideas & designs that were built that time & since, I don’t see anything about the creation that makes me want to puke.
I’m looking it from the standpoint of being a father, son build (Knessel) of the period & would like to know more of the cars history from that branch. I’m surprised to see so many biting on the Roth story, let alone feeding on it? Is this a project that you would consider? This Roth special could be an interesting tribute to the ‘50s Kalifornia Kustom hot rod scene but a major commitment of time, skill and dollars will be needed. It would take a tremendous amount of effort to get this custom back to its ’59 origin and intention, and then there is the starting bid to consider – zero bids since the listing went live two days ago. That’s an understatement! I’d say it stopped well short of completion. The seller does state that the restoration, which was started five years ago, was stopped short of completion. I have searched to find a connection between Roth and this very car and have not been able to establish a relationship. And then, the Ed Roth connection is not firmly established via the listing documentation. Auto auctions will frequently represent a ‘50s custom that was once lost to time and the elements and then resurrected to its former glory – more often than not, those creations seem to have originated from either Barris or Jeffries’ studio – this is the first Ed Roth design, on the open market, that I have encountered. Vehicles like this are always hard to figure. It sounds like a polite way of saying, “Good Luck!” The seller states, “The Corvette engine, transmission, rear end, and brakes were worked on.
ED BIG DADDY ROTH MANUAL
The transmission looks like a three-speed manual and the differential definitely has a mid- ‘50s Chevrolet appearance no indication if any of it actually works. The power train, as stated earlier, is from a ’56 Corvette so it’s probably a 265 CI V8. The Chevy association continues with what looks like a speedometer from a ’55 model. The firewall appears to be constructed of wood, somewhat defeating its intended purpose. There is no interior, just a steering column and wheel, a partial dashboard and a speedometer positioned over the recently powder-coated frame. While it is not stated specifically, the front clip looks like a ’55 Chevy design.
The body appears to have been “dropped” over the chassis and is completely ill-fitting it makes one wonder if it is even attached. Right out of the gate, this custom doesn’t look right, at least when compared to the photos in the ’59 magazine article. The seller’s description and details are extremely thin so it begs a lot of questions. It apparently had a grille from a ’50 Mercury which is present in the parts pile but removed from the car. What we have here is an amalgam for parts from various different cars as the Chassis is from a ’36 Chevrolet and the engine is a ’56 Corvette piece. The “Big Daddy” association is vague as there is no actual connection to him in the single page of the article that is included in the listing. The story around this custom is that it is referred to as an Ed Roth custom that was built in 1959 and featured in a magazine article entitled, “How to Build and Race Hot Rods” with actual work performed by Bob Knessel of Bell, California. While the origins of this custom are not entirely clear, it is referenced as a 1955 model, located in Camarillo, California, and available here on eBay for $20,000 zero bids tendered as of this writing. Where customizers George Barris and Dean Jeffries went more for imaginable or television/film-friendly customs, Big Daddy swerved towards the outlandish though this particular custom is more staid than many of his designs. He was also known for his cartoon characters like the Rat Fink, as well as over-the-top caricatures of custom hot rods. Roth, better known as “Big Daddy” was a mainstream fixture of the California custom car culture in the ’50s and ’60s. What the….? That was my first reaction when I spied this Ed Roth custom creation.
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