Customizing and the people who do it have always been a driving force in cars and diecast. The Model Car Hall of Fame has inducted dozens of great customizers since 2009, now we’re starting a new project to showcase even more of their great work. Here’s customizer and Inductee Chris Walker to talk about the first in this new line of customs! Get Yours Here.
Being part of the diecast world and the Model Car Hall of Fame get’s you involved in some really cool stuff. I was asked to do the first in a new series of cars for the Model Car Hall of Fame, the idea being a theme based on somebody inducted in the first year of the Hall.
Ed “Big Daddy” Roth was such a leader in the custom car world that his first bubble top design in 1961, the Beatnik Bandit, would go on to change the game and become a huge influence on anybody involved in the custom world for the next 50 years. After Big Daddy built many wild show rod creations, model company Revell built replicas of some of them and eventually some were made into Hot Wheels.
Ed “Big Daddy” Roth and Rat FinkWith that in mind, inducting Big Daddy into the Hall of Fame the first year was only natural. His son Dennis “Lil Daddy” Roth was on hand to accept his induction, making the night that much more special for many of us who saw Roth as the “Mad Scientist” of the custom world. As a Roth fan myself, who custom-built many of his creations that were never made in scale form, you just know I was more than excited to be a part of this project.
I started with the ever popular Dairy Delivery and painted it a white nuclear yellow. Roth style designs and details were added along with his most popular creation on the roof, the Fink himself. Final details include his year of induction in the Hall of Fame and name on the side panel. Very fitting and adds a touch of class as the first MCHOF “By Inductees, for Inductees” piece commemorating Roth and the MCHOF. I’m sure Ed would love it. Hopefully you guys do too!
The Rat Fink Dairy Delivery, limited to just 50 pieces, is available now in the MCHOF store for $63, commemorating the year Rat Fink first appeared -John O’Neil, Community Director