Now you see it now you don’t or Here today gone tomorrow, the cliché’s of change

Early Sketch of the Orbitron by Ed "Newt" Newton Titled "The OrbitGone"  Hot Rods by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth / Thacker & Roth (1995)

Who would have thought back then that it would end up missing for so many years.

In September of 1964 the Orbitron made its début, hit some car shows and was featured in the September 1964 Car Craft magazine.

Unfortunately the Orbitron didn’t do so well. Why?

First of all I don’t think that Car Craft did a very good job at introducing the vehicle and it was the only publication that I know of that publicized the debut of car, I can’t even say that ya could call it an article, the thing was only two pages with some photographs that had a few captions; maybe if it got top billing like some of Ed’s other vehicles it would have done a lot better.

Ed chalked it up to several reasons, one of which was by putting a hood over the chromed mill.

The “Orbitron” was a failure at the shows.  I believe it was because we covered that shiny chrome Chevy engine up with a hood.  It was a great lesson in design for me.  Never cover up the engine unless ya can serve a worthy purpose. .

I shoulda named it the Titanic because it was like tryin’ to hold onto this giant sinkin’ ship.  All the there cars I’d built went over big at the shows.  I had a formula but I didn’t have the brains to figure it out then.    I do now but I ain’t gonna tell you.

~ Ed Roth Quote- Hot Rods by Ed “Big Daddy” by Roth- Thacker Roth (1995)

You can see in the photo to the right that the engine compartment wasn’t really very attractive so opening the hood to show off the mill wouldn't have done the car any justice, so it was left closed.

Photograph by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth Hot Rods by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth / Thacker & Roth (1995)

“I can remember it was 1964 because Revell was houndin’ me for more cars to make models of and & was humpin’ my booty to get it over to Revell’s HQ in Santa Monica, Calif., for them to measure when The Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and all model sales stopped.  Guys got guitars instead o’ cars.  Revell’s sales fell off so bad that they almost went bust.  The monster kits stopped too!  It was the end of the model scene and the end of those big royalty checks. I sold the Orbitron to some dude in Texas ”

 ~ Ed Roth Quote- Hot Rods by Ed “Big Daddy”Roth / Roth- Thacker (1995)

The only model kit in existence is a resin kit by Hendrix, these were produced much later on and we currently carry them in our Stuff Store. The body will go over just about any modified 1:25th scale model chassis.

The two kits above were bashed together by Chris Walker of Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Chris is well known for his custom building, prototyping, and package design for the diecast toy automotive industry.

Some folks say that Ed hated the car from the beginning, but this writer thinks a bit differently, I believe that any kind of animosity for the vehicle came later on because if Ed truly believed that the car was a mistake in the beginning then he would have never finished it and it would of ended up on his scrap heap.

I remember an in depth decision with Ed several years back; he told me that, “We all have to be prepared for change and that change is good and that if one is creative and diversified enough and uses his God given talents to do so then things will always work out”

The way I look at it, is that the failure of the Orbitron didn’t mean that Ed was dead in the water his t-shirt sales were still doing good and there were still several projects in construction. This little upset could have been preparing Ed for a new chapter in his life.

They say that there is a reason for everything and if not for the failure of the Orbitron and the Wishbone (a whole different story) Ed might not have diversified the way he did. With this in mind, Ed was headed for a big change and by 1967 Roth Studios took a 360 degree turn, influencing the motorcycle industry with “Choppers Magazine”. This change most defiantly had an impact on the industry and our culture as we knew it back then and as we know it today. 

Oh where oh where has the Orbitron been?

On August 27th of last year I was contacted by Michael Lightbourn out of El Paso Texas who found the Orbitron in Mexico , he asked if I could help put together a build list of materials and team who could restore the car. It was at that time when I posted the news on the internet and started the tedious regiment of research in order to get as much information on the car to include a chronological time line of its whereabouts and its owners.

 Michael Lightbourn

Back in 1999 I came up with the idea of making a list of Ed’s vehicles and their whereabouts so that they could be tracked for future articles on ratfink.org and called upon for display purposes.  One thing I learned is that Ed wasn’t so hip to the fact that most of his vehicles that were once donated to museums were now in the hands of private collectors. As time went on the list became pretty complete and with all of the recent activity the list has changed many times since then, but there still was the question about the Orbitron.

It has not only been quoted in a couple of Roth books but I remember Ed claiming that he had sold it to some dude in Texas believing that he was a doctor or a dentist or something. I’m figuring that Ed may have had his stories mixed up because in a photo caption from “Hot Rods by “Big Daddy” Roth, Ed stated that Mike Lowe of El Paso, Texas, bought the car in 1973 and drove it to school.

Roth aficionado and collector Mark Moriarity had helped me with this list so I thought I’d give him a call and this is what I found out.

Back in 1967 Darryl Starbird called Ed to ask if he could lease the Orbitron for his own car show circuit, and Ed said, “I’ll just sell it to you for the lease price.”  I confirmed this with a call to Starbird’s Shop and I guess that Ed sold it to Starbird for $ 750.00 the unfortunate thing is that Darryl forgot who he had sold or traded it to.

We can only assume that this might have been when the car went to Mike Lowe of El Paso , Texas.

While I was researching the Orbitron’s travels I gave photographer and writer Pat Ganahl a call and tipped him off on the find, I was looking for more photographs and information on the car for reference. Pat immediately put HRM photographer and correspondent Jerry Heasley on the case, Michael Lightbourn was also doing some local investigation because it seemed that the Orbitron had been cited several times throughout its history in the El Paso area.

Some of Lightbourn’s friends remembered seeing the car in its original condition from around 1972 to 1975 parked on a street with a For Sale Sign in the bubble. The Car was then owned by a local attorney named Sid Abraham and a bail bondsman named Victor Apodaca.  During Lightbourn’s investigation they couldn’t remember exactly how they got the car other than possibly for a partial payment for defense in a criminal case.

(Side Note:  Victor Apodaca had put an ad in the August 1968 edition of  Hot Rod Magazine you can click here to get a look at it)

The attorneys had no buyers at the time however Abraham’s Brother Eddie and his nephew, John Attel, took an interest the car knowing about Roth and his show cars.  John tried driving it to school, but the car didn’t run all that good, (most likely because it sat around for so many years) there was one time when he got stuck inside the car for over an hour and they had to break the bubble to get him out and the car was up for sale once again. (So that’s what happened to the bubble)

Side Note: Around 1997-98 Mark Moriarity placed an ad in a Texas publication because it was rumored the car had been sighted. Mark got a couple of responses one of which said that he had seen the car in 1973 at a show and the nose had already been removed at that time! We now know that the person who responded to Mark’s ad must have had his dates messed up because this rumor is incorrect from what we’ve learned so far.

The Orbitron remained unsold for years with only one interested buyer who thought it might make for an interesting salad bar which didn’t happen. The car was finely sold to a couple of guys from Mexico who planned on using it in a carnival. No one really knows what happened to the nose at this point, it might be assumed that the nose came off of the car at that time. It has been rumored that the nose may be hanging in a bar being used as a lighting fixture somewhere near uncharted Mexico . But then that’s only a rumor.

Then along came Michael Lightbourn who restores cars for the elite down in Mexico and found the Orbitron sitting in front of the bookstore. Michael recognized the car and had been hounding the family for over a year in regard to the sale of the car. The owners of the book store didn't want to sell the car because of sentimental reasons.

The owner of the book store believed that his uncle had actually built the car but the only thing that the uncle had done to the car was to cut off the nose of the vehicle to show all of the chrome work that was hidden and put a radiator in it to drive it around the carnival grounds.

Michael convinced the owner of the book store that he was familiar with his uncles car, and if he had sentimental feelings for the car, then why was it that he was allowing people to use it as a trash can? It was at this time that Michael convinced the owner of the book store that he could restore it back to its original condition. The nephew finely let the car go and sold it Michael.

Once Michael got the Orbitron home he had contacted me, he really wanted to give it a shot at having the car restored, that is when the news hit the streets, Michael sent me a boat load of photographs and gave me permission to send out an all points bulletin on the internet. So now the word was out!

It was unsure at the time whether the car would be restored in El Paso or bring it out here to So Cal or what; regardless I worked for several weeks putting together a restoration list and a concept team that could get the job done for Michael.

I contacted Mark Moriarity to see if he was interested in restoring the car. Mark would have been a natural, having owned and restored several of Ed’s vehicles throughout the years to include, the Rotar, the Road Agent, the Secret Weapon and the Globe Hopper, Mark also built the very first Outlaw clone and his own car the Futurian.  Mark made an offer to purchase the Orbitron and do it himself but couldn’t get the time off or make special arrangements to restore the car.

Mark Moriarity's Futurian

Dave Shuten's AstroSled Paint by Fritz Photo classicdragsters.com 

Once the word was out and with all of the purchase offers, Michael became some what unsure on whether he would be better off selling the car figuring in how much it would cost and the time it would take to actually restore it in order to do it right.

Besides the offers from Mark and Dave, Michael was offered some really big bucks from two parties overseas, if anything both Michael and myself wanted to see the Orbitron stay here in the United States regardless of the selling price. 

Part of the Beau Boeckmann Collection, you can see the Rotar  Restored by Mark Moriarity, The Rat Fink Chopper by Jimmy C

The Beau Boeckmann Collection, The Globe Hopper  Restored by Mark Moriarity,

The Beau Boeckmann Collection, The Orbitron and Ed's Honda

The Beau Boeckmann Collection, The Great Speckled Bird, One of very few Roth vehicles in its original condition

The Beau Boeckmann Collection Jimmy C Pinstriping the Rotar

Roswell Rod by Fritz

Larry Watson and yours truly in front of Watson's Roth Wall of Fame

The Dream Team:

Boeckmann’s choice for spearheading the restoration is Dave Shuten. Shuten had already started collecting parts for his own clone of the Orbitron and had made an offer to purchase the car in the first place. Shuten was also willing to take a leave of absence from his job in order to come out from Michigan to work on the project so it only makes sense that he be the one to do it.

Jimmy C will also be working on the project along with some of the advanced members of the Galpin Auto Sports Shop crew.

There is no doubt that this project will be a great success and the most rewarding thing to know is that the Orbitron is finely getting the attention and the respect that she and Ed Roth deserved so many years ago. 

I truly believe that the "Orbitron" will go down in history as one of Ed's greatest achievements in the history of custom car industry!

She was lost and now she is found!

So stay tunes as The Orbitron Saga Continues,

Moldy Marvin  

For Up-Dates and 

The Grand Finale Article

Go To The Rest-O-Ration Directory!

Bibliography and Credits:

“Big Daddy Roth’s Latest Dream Rod”  by Bud Long Car Craft Magazine (September 1964)

“The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby” Tom Wolfe  (1965)

“Hot Rods by Ed “Big Daddy Roth”  by Ed “Big Daddy” Roth & Tony Thacker (1995)

“Ed “Big Daddy” Roth His Life, Times, Cars, and Art” by Pat Ganahl (2003)

“The Orbitron Saga” by Pat Ganahl and Jerry Heasley Hot Rod Magazine (March 2008) On News Stands Now!

“Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s Orbitron Found!!” Moldy Marvin CK Deluxe Magazine (December 2007)

Photo credits from publications will be found in the captions.

Other Credits: Darryl Roth, Mark Moriarity, Michael Lightbourn, Larry Watson & Darryl Starbird

Additional Photo Credits:  Michael Lightbourn, Moldy Marvin

Comments and Points of Interest Section 

Sales at Revell were very strong up to the years around 1968. The phenom sales of the Outlaw, Road Agent, Tweedy Pie and the Mysterion were not enough to produce the Orbitron. Surfite barely made profit for Revell, probably because of its small size. Roth admitted to me that the Orbitron was doomed to failure because of the lack of visible chrome. I agreed with the cars potential and therefore did not push it as a potential kit. 

Ed had other builds that would have made viable kits, such as the Druid Princess, and the Mail Box. But, these were not to be in the Revell line-up because of the falling out of the Revell/Roth partnership. About this time, as your story pointed out, Ed was getting into the motorcycle world. Unfortunately, he also included some unsavory characters that were connected to 'This world". Revell, worried about the potential bad publicity, gave Ed the choice ...............the motorcycle crowd or his connection with Revell. His choice has to be very clear. He later commented to me that, when he realized what that meant to future projects and their royalty payments, he had chosen the "wrong path".

Being as how his opinions were paramount in any thing he did, working with him was not very easy, but, I wouldn't dream of ignoring my relationship that I had with him.

Bob Paeth