Early Christmas Post - Jeff DeGrandis/Ed "Big Daddy" Roth....

As a kid growing up in Fort William, Ontario, the 1:25 scale model cars you got for Christmas were the closest thing you had to having the real thing.  You could build those models and learn from them, later to apply your hopeful talents to the 1:1 cars that you might some day afford to build.  It takes a whole lifetime and then some to learn from your mistakes.
Here is a very cool Christmas post. These first two renderings were done by none other than Jeff DeGrandis. You can read Jeff's bio further down, but Jeff's talent here, emulates that of an incredible artist and car designer Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, the creator of "Rat Fink".
........Click on all pictures to enjoy them larger! 

The custom cars that the kid is asking Santa Fink for were all designed and built by none other than "Big Daddy" Roth himself.  Also every one of these cars were also recreated in 1:25 scale for the kid in me back then and are still available to this day for all us plastic bashers.

The first one here noted in the cartoon is The Beatnik Bandit.

This one is The Outlaw.

This picture and the next shows a photo of The Outlaw at The Fort William Gardens right here in our home town of Thunder Bay....well it was called Thunder Bay by then, as the photo was taken in about 1980.  If you click on this, you can see my red/black 1932 Hudson Terraplane off to the left behind the kid standing there.

This is another shot actually taken from the same spot.  The Outlaw was on a turnable to show off its incredible lines.  This same car was here before in the 1960's when one of the "Northern Ontario Timing Association" car shows was held at the Port Arthur Arena, and yes, Thunder Bay was called Fort William and Port Arthur until 1970.

This on is Big Daddy's Mysterian.

This strange one with the clear orange plastic dome is Road Agent.

Here is Big Daddy himself in his Orbitron!

This final one is a rail dragster called Yellow Fang

Its hard to believe that Jeff was only 3 or 4 years old when Big Daddy was doing these custom cars.

BE SURE TO GO TO JEFF'S SITE as follows  http://dragfink.com/ to view Jeff's incredible talent!

 

Finally...the creator of all this Ed "Big Daddy" Roth.  You can read all about Big Daddy if you click on this link  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Roth

Ed Big Daddy Roth March 4, 1932 – April 4, 2001

My heartfelt thanks to Jeff DeGrandis for keeping the memory of Big Daddy and Rat Fink alive!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS 2012

Big Daddy Roth...Old Car Ads, and other Christmas Oddities! ...Christmas and/or Winter Related part 2

In line with the other magazine covers in a prior post, and keeping with the Christmas season, here are a few other oddities to enjoy....Be sure to click on the pictures for larger images...sometimes twice for extra large ones!

Here is a bit more of Pete Millar's art work on a cover way back in the 1960's. The second group of photos here is a collage of Big Daddy Roth and a little bio that you will have to click on probably twice to read, as well as a little Happy Finky Christmas....(If you don't know who Rat Fink is, you have never lived in the hot rod world). Rat Fink still exists today and in most hot rod circles is still more popular than Mickey Mouse!!

A couple of real oddities here. "Santa Clause conquers the Martians" was an actual "B" movie back in the middle of the 20th century, and was dubbed as one of the worst movies of all time.

The next piece here is a very cool (likely fictitious) lounge sign that caught my eye...I guess I just really like the Art Deco art work here!

This is a wonderful 1941 Lincoln Zephyr advertisement showing Santa, looking so proudly upon either his own Lincoln or one that he will be giving as a gift on Christmas Eve.

The next one here is a great artistic piece of Christmas gift bearing people eyeing up the brand new 1946 Nash.

Here is a nice shot of Santa and an International Panel Truck. International trucks were a very important part of the delivery scene back in 1938. Next to it is a 5-Ton 1948 Studebaker Stake-side truck delivering Christmas Trees to the neighbourhood. Both are great examples of the art work for the advertising industry at the time.

One last art piece here is tons of Christmas shoppers at the Goodyear Tire store back in 1960....do you recognize the new red 1960 Plymouth Valiant?

The final 1954 picture here is one of my favourites showing Christmas shoppers in a city that could be anywhere in the USA or Canada a week before the holidays........How many of the vehicles can you name. Compare that picture to one that might be taken today, and from the same distance you would never be able to tell what the vehicles were!! The vehicles of today are basically clones of each other.

NOTE: CHECK OUT THESE TWO LINKS TO SEE LAST YEARS CHRISTMAS POSTS....THEY ARE WORTH A SECOND LOOK.....THEN COME BACK!

http://hotrodsandjalopies.blogspot.com/2009/12/old-family-christmas-trees-and-toysin.html

AND http://hotrodsandjalopies.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmasthe-best-days-of-our-lives-in.html
Please note that the image above "Ring-A-Ding-Ding Lounge" is courtesy of and property of "The Retro Christmas Card Company"  with it's link as follows  http://www.retrochristmascardcompany.com/ring-a-ding-lounge/
Many thanks to "Retro Christmas Card Company" for its use!