The Beatnik Bandit was designed and built by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and was the second of his creations to tour with the International Championship Auto Shows (ICAS), in the 1960-61 season. The Outlaw was Roth's first ICAS custom, but the Bandit was the first Roth car created by their Show Car Division specifically for the show circuit. The Beatnik Bandit started out as a project car for Rod & Custom magazine. It was built using a 1955 Oldsmobile frame which was shortened, then covered in plaster to create a mold for the all-fiberglass body. The duel-carb blown Oldsmobile engine sits forward of a hand-made custom bubble top created by carefully softening a sheet of plexiglas in a large pizza oven to the point just before it becomes molten.