eBay Find of the Day: Ed "Big Daddy" Roth's Honda CVCC
Its amazing what a brush with fame will do for the most ordinary objects. Ed "Big Daddy" Roth was certainly an integral part of the hot-rodding scene, and he went from pinstriping to building full-on custom cars and back to striping as his career progressed. This little Honda was the perfect transportation, t-shirt sales shop, workbench and advertisment for a journeyman striper with a name that preceeded him. The history of this car is fascinating, though we have trouble thinking that it's $8,000 worth of interesting. The current owner apparently thinks the past of this vehicle is worthy of making it a museum piece, and the eBay post has a long-winded manifesto about how he'd like to see the car utilized after the sale. We love hotrodding and the history of the hobby, but we still find the valuation a little dubious. At least it stands a better chance of getting its final bid than the General Lee.
Thanks to Mike for the tip.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
CARLOS 2:47PM (5/15/2007)
I dont know Ed Roths history well enough but unless he had two of these early Honda civics this one on eBay may be a fake. It now seems like the auction was removed.
The original 1973 Honda 600 Custom Coupe owned by ed 'Big Daddy' Roth sold at an RM Auction last year for $58,850! Yes Big Daddy Roth is a big deal in the Hot Roding community and a piece of history like that is definitely worth more than $8k. Come on Autoblog do some homework on automotive history!
It was also red and covered in Ed Roths famous artwork.
See link below Lot # 390 for the real Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth Civic.
http://www.rmauctions.com/AuctionResults.cfm?SaleCode=BC06#
Reply
Don 3:57PM (5/15/2007)
$8,000 for that hunk of shit?
Riiiiiiiiight.
Reply
jeremy 4:20PM (5/15/2007)
CARLOS:
"...but unless he had two of these early Honda civics this one on eBay may be a fake"
from the link you provided:
"The tiny Coupe performed yeoman duty over the next few years before being replaced by a series of Honda Civics."
Going by the history in the link you provided (if accurate) it is possible that this could be another one...
Reply
kyle 4:20PM (5/15/2007)
wouldn't that be neat mounted on a wall in the house? talk about abstract artwork.
Reply
leather 2:43AM (4/07/2008)
I grew up two doors down from Ed from '78 till he moved to utah. even got to throw up a brush stroke on that car .his humble day-to-day transportation was also his sketch pad ,pallet, supply box,and teacher's chalkboard. but relevent to your comment, Ed had a clear plexi/lexan/acrylic coffee table in his living room that encased a completely chromed-out honda 4-banger motor. it had ignition wiring, belts,and hoses like a show car would have. the thing was internally lit with colorful neon lights. he loved those motors............god bless him.
CARLOS 5:02PM (5/15/2007)
nice catch Jeremy, it appears there are more Honda Civics that were used at Roths studios. I guess the question is if these other civics were painted on by Roth himself.
the reason I questioned this auction was becuase the red civic in the eBay auction looked similar to the one auctioned off by RM. I also question why it would be sold on eBay as a public auction. Then again the General Lee was posted as a public eBay auction so I guess people dont really understand how to list expensive items on eBay.
Reply
Will 6:09PM (5/17/2007)
At the height of the 1970's gas crunch, My wife and I bought a 1976 Honda Civic CVCC for fuel economy. The car got 30 mpg but was absolutely horrible. It had the worst quality, non-fuel economy performance and reliability of any vehicle I have EVER owned. This car rusted so badly, I finally got rid of it before it could become totally unsafe. Please excuse me if I can't share in the intended happiness hinted at by this article.
Reply