The Outlaw was one of the first custom rods not based on a production car. While a Cadillac engine was used for power its one-of-a-kind body was specially molded in fiberglass. The Outlaw was Roth's first custom automobile and was built in part to help promote his expanding T-shirt business. Its original design helped thrust Roth to the forefront of the 'mod rod' movement. Other Roth show cars included the Beatnik Bandit, Rat Fink, and Road Agent.
'The Outlaw' Roadster was designed and built in 1957 by Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth of Maywood, California. This hot rod was Roth's first experience with building in fiberglass, a revolutionary material at that time. The car was based on a Ford Model A frame fitted with a 1925 Ford Model T front cross-member, and it initially bore a 1950 Cadillac engine found in a junkyard. Inside, the car was fitted with a 1958 Chevrolet Impala steering wheel and seven Stewart-Warner gauges. 'The Outlaw,' originally named 'The Excaliber' (sic), made its debut at the Disneyland Car Club Day and Autocade Show in September 1959 and was pictured on the cover of
Car Craft Magazine in January 1960. Later that year, 'The Outlaw' was shown at the Kustom Kar Kapades in Monterey, California, where it was spotted by the Revell Model Company. A deal was struck to produce 1:25 scale models of the car, after which it became one of Revell's best-selling plastic kits, still in production today.
