Ryan submitted a new blog post: Ed Roth's Mysterion: Where is it? Continue reading the Original Blog Post
Ed Roth The Zeus of customizers Author and subject of books Cartoonist, pinstriper, builder of bodies No Detroit sheet metal needed to build his creations. VW trend setter Custom bikes, trikes and land based space craft. Hot Wheels and model kit inspiration T-shirts and stickers honor him “Let us place FEs side by side and also one in a 55 Chevy” “I laugh at your symmetrical head lights” When students ask who my favorite super hero is, I reply “Mr. Roth” Yes there are many lesser custom gods but only one Roth
I believe that the guy in Tulsa was (is) the person who would know. I don't know his real name, but in the 60's he was a custom painter who went by the name of The Bearded One. Jack Walker knows more about what happened to the Mysterion after Doug Wright had it than anyone I know, and Jack will point you toward The Bearded One.
Yeah. That’s the guy. You are the only person that was actually there when the car was cut up that I’ve talked to... and, as such, have the only words that mean anything really.
Ryan, the car you saw had a front axle but the original was torched out at some point? Do I have that right?
Yes. You do... And that would be weird for sure, but all kinds of shit happens to old cars through the years. I think the car was lost for good around 1968 or 69 when Doug Wright sold it... So, almost 30 years later when I saw what I saw... Who knows? You'd think it would be tempting to put some kind of axle under both front and rear just to move the thing around. You know what's funny to think about though? Let's just pretend that I saw the Mysterion that day... This guy was trying to move the car from point A to point B without being noticed given the tarp. He stops for gas and by some kind of shitty luck, an obsessed 19 year old kid just happens to look under the tarp.
Mr. Davison, what color was the car when it was cut up? Was it still yellow? Ryan saw a pearl white car with a rough body, so it sounds like the car wasn't restored after the cut up. If it was white when cut up then there's a chance that might be the one. Also, private to Tom: do you have a relative who's an eye doctor living here in Marshalltown, Iowa?
All I remember seeing was the rear quarter. Keep in mind that this was a long ass time ago, but I distinctly remember seeing what I called a "corvette cove", white pearly paint, and some faded red or pink pin striping that was done really poorly.... like practice almost. This, of course, begs the question - why would a car be re-painted and never shown in public? I mean, as far as I know the car was yellow when it was cut up - right Tom? I mean, I listen to enough crime podcasts to know that eye-witnesses suck. And the odds that I saw the Mysterion that day are VERY much against me. It's just a feeling I had as a 19 year old kid that I still kind of have is all... Add that plus all of this strange circumstantial evidence I have aimed towards the car being in Tulsa right now... and well, I start spreading bullshit rumors. So... let's keep this in mind - I have zero real evidence of anything at all.
Since the original front and rear axles were cut from the car, having a new axle installed with some Halibrands on it (old race car parts?) is perfectly reasonable. But repainting pearl white over a rough body is kinda unusual.
@Ryan Did you ever ask Moriarity ? He seems to have a vast knowledge of Customs History and is into that Eclectic far out custom time period. Hell, he probably has one life size just like it in his kitchen.
The bearded ones name was Dick Huckins. He told me years ago he at one time had the body sitting around his shop. He told me one day a kid came in and ask if it was for sale he told the kid he could have it if he would haul it off. The kid did and the body was never seen or heard of again. I can't remember if the frame was with it or not. Huckins never mentioned the frame just the body.
I hope it turns up. I searched for a car I rode around in LA back in 1974, asked everyone in the hobby about it, it just fell off the earth. Then 40 years later someone on the HAMB gave me a tip and it turns up in an East Coast collection NOT FOR SALE. Talked to the last guy that drove (and totaled) an even more important race car that I'd love to find the remains of. So many great cars are still out there in one form or another waiting to be found. Bob
Correct me if I’m wrong @Tom davison but haven’t you mentioned in the past that the frame was cut up after the axles were removed & it was thrown in the dumpster? I know the frame was cracked & in sad shape at the end of the Mysterions life.
I don't believe that is the case. Here's the last known photo of the car from when Doug owned it: Note: It looks as though it had some sort of a fogged paint job on it. However, I believe (and could be very wrong) it was still yellow in color?
I stand corrected @Ryan. Were the motors with the car when it was sold off? Epic photos by the way. The one of the nose on the deck lid of the ‘59 blew my mind.
Just read the entire post, that mystery intake off a famous race car does exist. I saw it on a green T bucket and had a very nice conversation with the present owner, even took photos of it. Knew what it was as soon as it saw it and asked the owner to confirm it. Bob
Thoughts, if it sat in sad shape for years in a body shop is super probable that it got hit with some over spray or was even used as a little test panel to try some paint or clean a gun. If you worked in a body shop or you dad owned one and wanted to try striping it wouldn’t be a reach to say you painted on that curvy hunk of fiberglass over in the corner.
Also what time period was it landed in Independence? Maybe Tom would know that person as he had a shop there for a while? - technically Raytown but close enough I could see calling it Independence
‘’And I would have gotten away with it too if it wasn’t for you meddling kids!’’ Curious if the guy saw you peeking under the tarp ?!? Let me go pop some popcorn before you answer that though!
This was taken between when I painted it chartruese Metalflake and when it was parted out. Ray Farhner took delivery of the car from Bob Larivee in maybe '65 with Roth nowhere around. It was beat up and needed paint. Ray always "let" me paint any of the showcars that needed refinishing. He hauled four at a time on a semi rig. They weren't icons then, only beat up showcars, so Ray let me paint them any way I wanted to. That's the color it was when it left Ray's shop with Doug Wright. It was about this time ('65) that whitewalls were falling out of favor and more cars were using blackwalls as a "competition" look. I believe that I took the liberty of painting the whitewall part of the slicks black, when I had it in the shop painting the body.
The axles, wheels and suspension left by semi to California. I saw them leave with the Larivee semi driver and Ed Newton told me that he saw them being unloaded in Maywood at Roth's shop. In fact, he and other recent Roth employees were looking forward to seeing the Mysterion for the first time. Ed told me that they freaked out when the driver unloaded only axles!
Yes, Ray Farhner sold the body, frame and engines to Doug Wright for $750. Ray gave Phil Julo the nosepiece, but then asked him for it back when Doug agreed to buy the car. He should have let him keep it. In Jeff Jones' book, there are hundreds of photos, but this one is Jeff's favorite. Too bad Phil couldn't find the original snapshot in stead of the-is bad copy of a copy!
By the way, the lead photo of this piece is misleading as to the actual shade of yellow it was painted. This is either a golden hour shot or inaccurate white balance. During construction, when Jeff and I were discussing what shade the color was, I called both Lee Pratt and Jon Kosmoski and they both told me that Watson had used Candy Lime Gold over white pearl. The result gives a more lemon yellow with no green, amazingly. Anyway, that's how Jeff sprayed it and it looks like I remembered the original to be (before I painted over it with Metalflake).
I always just kind of ASS-U-MEd it was in Moriartys backyard. Of course, it hasn't really been proven that it isn't..... -Abone.
I had said that the front and rear crossmembers were torched from the side rails and left connected to the front and rear axles, and shipped that way back to Roth, per his request to Ray Farhner
Jack Walker told me more than 20 years ago the story of when he had it. He went to the body shop in Independence Mo with the bankers that had forclosed on it. Inside were just a bunch of empty paint cans and the remains of the Mysterion. The bankers told him that he could have it if he wanted it. Jack told me that it was the body, the nose and 1 frame rail and that was it. Jack remembered it as being 1971 or 1972. His first idea was to throw it in the median of the hiway and light it on fire. Claiming it to be a UFO. He obviously didn't do that and told me that he gave it to the bearded one and that it is in a garage in Tulsa. One of the things about this that really confuses me is that at the Time the car was deemed junk and unrepairable it was owned be Mr Larivee . Bob Larivee stated in the Thacker Roth book that he traded the Outlaw and Beatnik Bandit for the Mysterion and how it was a terrible trade based on how the car fell apart. It makes me wonder why Roth always claimed it was stolen, when Larivee owned it.....
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