Rat Fink Car Show

When I was growing up, (ok ok, I'm still growing up) I wasn't a chop top hot rod or street rod fan, but like most boys I loved muscle cars and a V-8 thundering under the hood. I also loved comic books and in the back pages of nearly everyone were Rat Fink pictures. At the time I didn't really understand the phenomenon of Rat Fink/"Big Daddy" Ed Roth/ street rod scene, but the cartoons were pretty eye catching and interesting.

Sometime later in life I realized how big street rods and classic cars were and the role "Big Daddy" Ed Roth and his Rat Fink creation played in all of that. As fate would have it Ed Roth left the SoCal hot rod scene and moved to little old Manti, Utah and married a local girl. I wasn't sure it was the "real" Ed Roth until I confirmed it with some folks but sure enough, it was him.

Unfortunately he passed away 5 years ago but some of his faithful fans conferred with his widow and started the Rat Fink convention, so in a way he lives on. Now each June dozens of hot rods, muscle cars and newer go-fasts show up in Manti for a few days of Rat Fink celebration. Since I attended this a couple years ago I look forward to seeing the super cool cars of all types and variety hanging out in the city park.

Here are a few shots from that event. If you want a little view of the past glory days of fast cars and hot rods google "Big Daddy" Ed Roth.