Ed Roth’s Mysterion: The Genesis, Demise and Recreation of an Iconic Custom Car

Ed Roth was a once in a lifetime phenomenon. His body of work is still the topic of discussion in hot rodding, fine arts, and social commentary circles and his subculture following is as devoted as it was during his incredibly creative career. His 1963 Mysterion show car was his masterpiece in the mind of many and the story of its rise and fall is literally the stuff of legend. One can find any number of fanciful renditions of where the car went after its four year life and most are fiction. Even though the car was immortalized as a plastic model kit, as several die cast models, and featured on several websites, very little is known about it.

Jeff Jones decided to do an in-depth investigation of this vehicle to try to separate fact from fiction and the truth is an engrossing tale. Result of his bolt by bolt deconstruction of the car from sparse, usually incorrect information in the literature, interviews with major players in the story, and endless hours of critical study of available period photographs is a faithful reproduction of the car. For the Ed Roth/Mysterion addict, these never before published photos and stories along with a detailed how-to of the car’s recreation should be in your library.