Deora and Beatnik Bandit Join National Historic Vehicle Register

• Deora, or Dodge Deora, was built by Detroit’s Mike and Larry Alexander, which won the famed Ridler Award.
  

• Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s Beatnik Bandit helped establish the wild bubble-top show car era of the 1960s.

• These two custom cars became immortalized in 1968 when they filled homes as two of the original 16 Hot Wheels.

Celebrating custom cars and Hot Wheels legends, the National Historic Vehicle Register is adding Deora and the Beatnik Bandit to its growing list of historically important cars. While both cars have a lengthy list of individual accolades, this pair of custom machines was cemented in history as two of the original 16 Hot Wheels diecast toys that launched in 1968.

These cars join 34 other historically significant machines in the Register, including fellow bespoke creations like Bob Hirohata’s 1951 Mercury, Jesse Valadez’s “Gypsy Rose” 1964 Chevrolet Impala, and Bob McGee’s 1932 Ford.

Beatnik Bandit

It might be hard to believe that this bubble top showpiece was built on the bones of a 1950 Oldsmobile, but underneath the Larry Watson paint and Ed Roth fiberglass work lies what’s left of a highly modified Oldsmobile chassis. This show car helped springboard Roth’s career in the show car circuit and followed up his “Excaliber” creation, which recently graced the field at Pebble Beach.

Roth’s Beatnik Bandit is an icon of the show car era of custom cars and was one of his most important works. Even though the car’s pedigree is hugely important, it might be overshadowed by Ed Roth’s ability to market his creation and get scaled-down versions stuffed in nearly every drugstore across America.

Garnering attention from its downscaled 1963 Revell model kit, the Beatnik Bandit was well-known enough to catch the eye of the folks who made Barbie. Roth’s creation was reproduced en masse as one of the original 16 Hot Wheels cars.

Deora

Deora, or Dodge Deora as it’s sometimes called, is based on, well, a Dodge A100 pickup. Built by custom car legends Mike and Larry Alexander, Deora was a styling experiment that showcased what someone could do with a cabover pickup.

By the late 1960s, Mike and Larry were both well established in the custom car world, with their Silver Sapphire 1932 Ford gracing the covers of national custom car magazines and taking center stage on the jacket of The Beach Boy's Little Deuce Coupe LP. Deora was stylish enough to take home the top honors at the 1967 Detroit Autorama and add a Ridler Award to the shop’s trophy case.

Just like the Beatnik Bandit, the Deora was immortalized in scaled-down plastic model kits and joined the list of the first 16 Hot Wheels diecast toys.

Even though Deora and the Beatnik Bandit both have their own immeasurable impact on the custom car world, their 1/64-scale diecast versions probably helped make more car enthusiasts than their life-size counterparts.

What car do you think should join the National Historic Vehicle Register next? Tell us your thoughts below.