Rat Fink & Mini Connection ??

[skip Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close skip]

Can anyone name the connection between Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and Mini's, (there's even a movie in there too) ? Hint 1965

[skip Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close skip]

The movie is Beach Blanket Bingo... The car used Mini running gear and lots of fiberglass and was yellow.

[BIGSHOT Runnin' with the herd Find all posts View Profile Close BIGSHOT]

Did you find the Surfite on ebay, Skip?

Dan

[skip Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close skip]

Hey you got it. I was sure Chuck would know something as obscurely Mini related as this. Nope I didn't find the Surfite on ebay, I ran across it in one of my ancient Rod & Custom magazines (1964).
It's pretty funny every article that I have ever read on the Surfite says that they original donor Mini was everything from an Austin Cooper S to a plain old 850 Austin Mini. Even the book on Ed Roth's art states that it was an 850. The Mr Gasser link states that the car was a 1269 cc Austin Mini Cooper !! http://www.mrgasser.com/surfite.htm
From what I understand the Surfite was also one of the few Roth built cars that were actually drivable.
All of his bubble top cars were pretty much posers, the Beatnik Bandit could not be driven with the bubble top down either that or the driver had to be really short. The Beatnik Bandit did however employ some really forward thinking in the "joystick" steering system which was all in one, gas, brakes, steering, shifter all electrically controlled.
I actually met Ed Roth once, strange guy.

[Cheleker S'Mokin' Find all posts View Profile Close Cheleker]

Got me on that one, Skip! Although the Ed Roth cars were of interest to me in 1964 I wouldn't have known what a Mini was. Didn't figure that out for a couple more years...and as for the movie, even then I thought it was terrible.