Character of the Week: Rat Fink

Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s Rat Fink

Rat Fink, the brainchild of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, was born in the midst of what is known as Kustom Kulture.  This encompasses the cars, artwork, fashion and lifestyle of the American custom car and motorcycle culture.

Loosely based on a mouse or rat, Rat Fink is a crazed-looking creature with green or blue skin and bulging eyes. His huge mouth with lots of sharp yellow teeth is in a perpetual snarl or insane looking smile.  He also wears a T-shirt with the letters R.F. emblazoned across the front.

Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, the artist, took this character and placed him in the driver’s seat of all different kinds of hot rods.  These are the drawings that made him Roth and Rat Fink famous.  Roth made t-shirts and took his creations to fairs, car shows, and drag events.  The popularity of the Rat Fink drawings grew, and so did the reputation of Ed Roth.

The sales of the Rat Fink merchandise financially allowed Roth to concentrate on his own custom car building business. Roth had been building cars in his garage, and was one of the early designers to use fiberglass as a material for vehicles.  Ed “Big Daddy” Roth is highly regarded as a designer and builder of custom cars.

In the early 1960’s Revell American began to sell model car kits based on the cars Roth designed, and they also produced model kits for the gang of monsters he created.  The models were so popular, that millions were sold across the country.  Merchandise began to expand into different areas, and records were even sold that featured songs and stories of the Rat Fink gang of monsters.  Soon, there were other artists helping Roth keep up with the demand, such as Steve Fiorilla and R.K. Sloane, the artist for “Rat Fink Comix,” a comic book based on the Rat Fink gang.

Rat Fink became a symbol for Kustom Kulture, and will always be known as such. Although Ed “Big Daddy” Roth has passed away, his art lives on.  It is in museums, tattoo parlors, and on clothes.  One can still buy t-shirts and merchandise featuring the crazed monster, and the art of Roth will always be a part of American history.

Check out our website for many metal signs and even a bobble head doll featuring Rat Fink, the crazed hot rod monster.