![]() ![]() So for a decade, Roth turned his considerable talents to the mundane: He painted signs and pinstriped trains at Knott’s Berry Farm. “Moms used to drag their kids away from my booth.” “Some people thought Rat Fink was ghastly, with his bloodshot eyes and teeth,” Roth said. While Roth says religion saved him from a destructive lifestyle, it brought with it new turmoil: how to reconcile his outrageous genius with his newfound beliefs.Īt the time, his solution “was to give it all up.” Roth said he was “really ripped” one day, working in his shop, when a friend dropped off a copy of the Book of Mormon. ![]() A series of his posters depicting the exploits of the outlaw motorcycle club are for auction now at Bonham’s in London. Roth had also been publicly vilified for crusading for the Hell’s Angels. Roth’s conversion to Mormonism in 1974 came at a time when he was disillusioned with making cars and had turned his attention to “trikes,” the hybrid three-wheeled motorcycles shunned by hot-rod traditionalists and banned from auto shows. “It’s like, I’ll be sitting there and all I’ll be able to think is, ‘Go get the Chrysler Hemi!’ ” “If I’m having a design problem, I’ll go to the temple for three or four hours and it will come to me,” Roth said. But it has taken him years to get comfortable with the idea. He’s more than half inclined these days to see his inspiration as personal, divine revelation, in keeping with his Mormon beliefs. “When I was a kid, you wondered where these things were coming from.” “You realized that Roth had a vision,” said Ken Gross, curator and executive director of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, home to Roth’s 1959 seminal roadster, the Outlaw. “He’s the Salvador Dali of the movement-a surrealist in his designs, a showman by temperament, a prankster,” Wolfe wrote. Note: Graffiti isn’t just rebellion it’s a language etched into time.Author Tom Wolfe, in his 1964 essay on the California hot-rod phenomenon, “The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby,” described Roth as the “most colorful, the most intellectual and the most capricious” of the car customizers. And to anyone who looks upon it-thanks for sharing this ride. To those who lived through the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s-this one’s for you. May this rat rod ignite memories and spark conversations. Behold the rat rod’s metamorphosis: graffiti swirling across interior like urban vines colors bleeding into upholstery seams secrets whispered in every brushstroke. They carry echoes of ’50s diners, jukeboxes, and leather jackets-the pulse of an era when rock ‘n’ roll blared from transistor radios. □ Why? Because hotrods aren’t just machines they’re time capsules. The rat rod absorbed my energy-a fusion of street cred and gasoline dreams. Skulls emerged from upholstery demons whispered across dashboards old-school flames licked at door panels. My fingers danced with colors- a rhythm of rebellion. ![]() Ancient civilizations etched their stories on walls-Egyptians, Greeks, Romans-all leaving their mark in defiance of time. It’s art-written, painted, or drawn on surfaces in public view. Technically, graffiti is more than mere vandalism. □ What is a graffiti artist? A question that echoed through my mind as I stood before the car’s blank interior. But this rat rod beckoned-a canvas on wheels, waiting for my expression. Walls remained untouched by my hand buildings bore no secret signatures. □ Now, here’s the twist. I’d never been a tagger-the nocturnal artists who danced with spray cans under moonlit bridges. Slang and aesthetics merged-a symphony of chrome, flames, and rebellion. Before heading to the shop, I delved into the lexicon of ’50s hot rod culture. □ I packed up my supplies-Airbrushes, cans of paint, and a heart pulsing with anticipation. His words were simple yet electrifying: “Come paint some sick shit on this rat rod.” The canvas? The car’s interior-an unexpected playground for graffiti art. □ John Shope, the mastermind behind Dirty Bird Concepts, summoned me. But let me rewind to the moment when John Shope call changed everything. Its metal skin, once dull and unremarkable, now bore the vibrant echoes of my creativity. ![]() □ This rat rod was so much fun to paint. Title: “Tagging the Rat Rod: A Graffiti Adventure” ![]()
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