Ed Roth's Mysterion is gone, but one superfan built his own and it's up for auction

FoxNews.com/Cars + Trucks ^ | Nov 4, 2018 | Jeff Peek

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Jeffrey Jones wrote the book on Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s radical twin-engine Mysterion hot rod. Actually, he wrote about his journey to replicate it. Two years after Jones’ book was published, his actual replica car could be yours.

RM Sotheby’s is offering the exceptional recreation at its Petersen Automotive Museum Auction on December 8. There is no reserve or pre-auction estimate, but the hot rod is expected to go for six figures.

Roth’s innovations and creations made him a major player in 1950s and ’60s Southern California car culture. His first “famous” custom car was the futuristic Outlaw. He is also known for the Beatnik Bandit, Orbitron, Surfite, and Rotar. His out-there customs often became Revell scale-model kits. A talented illustrator, Roth also created the cartoon character Rat Fink, which he referred to as “Mickey Mouse’s evil twin,” and he successfully sold Rat Fink-themed t-shirts and memorabilia at shows.

Mysterion is Roth’s most famous and least documented show rod. Built in the early 1960s, it appeared in numerous magazines but few build specs or detailed photographs exist. And the original car is long gone.

Jones says he fell in love with Mysterion as a teenager, and car show promoter Bob Larivee was obviously a big fan as well. According to Jones, Larivee owned Beatnik Bandit and Orbitron, and in 1965 he convinced Roth to trade Mysterion in exchange for the pair. Larivee later traded Mysterion back to Roth, but it never made it to Roth’s shop intact. Roth only wanted the front and rear axles, and the rest was parted out.

Jones vowed to build a Mysterion of his own someday, and in the early 2000s he finally got to work.

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(RM Sotheby's)

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“Jones vowed to build a Mysterion of his own someday, and in the early 2000s he finally got to work. Jones’ research revealed secrets and inaccuracies—some of which Roth created and perpetuated—and shed light on some design flaws (the original car was meant only to be a show piece).

Among his discoveries: Although the original Mysterion carried twin 390-cubic-inch Ford big-block engines (the setup resembles the wild LS V-8 setup that we saw at SEMA earlier this week), the original frame couldn’t handle the weight of even one engine and transmission and actually function as a driver.

So Jones’ recreation has an additional steel-rod inner frame. And although it looks like the Mysterion is carrying two 390 V-8s, only one actually works. The other is hollow. The two engines are joined by a cross belt so that it appears they both work.”

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Here's the original...

[ColdOne]

Nice! Thanks for posting.

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[IronJack]

I’ve always wondered how many of these exotic customs could actually function. This one clearly couldn’t. At least not in the original incarnation.

[marktwain]

Among his discoveries: Although the original Mysterion carried twin 390-cubic-inch Ford big-block engines (the setup resembles the wild LS V-8 setup that we saw at SEMA earlier this week), the original frame couldn’t handle the weight of even one engine and transmission and actually function as a driver. So Jones’ recreation has an additional steel-rod inner frame. And although it looks like the Mysterion is carrying two 390 V-8s, only one actually works. The other is hollow. The two engines are joined by a cross belt so that it appears they both work.

In other words, it was all a big fraud. Nothing functional. Merely an interesting piece of dynamic art.

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[niteowl77]

I was seriously chapped when I belatedly learned that the Mysterion was essentially a static exhibit, because as a kid I thought it was the coolest of Ed Roth's customs.

Nowadays I see it as a sort of the bridge between the earlier, more "trad" street rods that I liked and the very futuristic stuff that I didn't care much for.

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In other words, it was all a big fraud.

Yes, like the Munsters, Gilligan's Island, and Lost In Space.

[marktwain]

Yes, like the Munsters, Gilligan's Island, and Lost In Space.

Not exactly. All of those creations were noted as fiction from the beginning.

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I believe these are all Ed Roth builds....

[niteowl77]

Yes, like the Munsters, Gilligan's Island, and Lost In Space.

The reminiscences of what the Munster Koach was like to drive were kind of entertaining to read; what with the low HP/weight ratio, abominable steering, etc, nobody seemed to like it much.

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[niteowl77]

Munster Koach, Drag-u-la and the Boot Hill Express... built the kits of all three. Years later, I had many conversations with a guy who did tooling for Monogram, and worked with people who watched Ertl mess up some of the old AMT offerings.

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Looks like the nose is styled after a 60s Vette.

[Flick Lives]