Road AgentFollowing close on the Mysterion's heels (well, slicks anyway) with its dual Ford "water pumpers" came a complete change of pace-the mid-engine, air-cooled 1960 Corvair-powered Road Agent. Could this have been a kind of precursor for Ed's VW-powered trikes just over the horizon? Though we'll probably never know for sure, it does sound like a logical progression, at least to me.
Joe Henning was called on to reprise his role as designer that he'd so masterfully done on the Beatnik Bandit. Of course, the Road Agent is no Beatnik Bandit, but then what is? Heck, even Roth couldn't pull it off as well the second time on the sequel, Bandit II, but then, that's just an opinion, too.
The Henning design for a way-out 'glass creation on a unique 95-inch wheelbased tube frame (reported to have been built by Ed in Ganahl's book, but Dick Cook in the Thacker/Roth book) was kind of a "Jetsons meet the Model T" affair created by Roth and Dirty Doug in their now typical method of 'glass over plaster with no female mold. In theory, however, the body itself could technically be considered a female mold, though not used as such, as this step was avoided altogether.
The Road Agent is said to have been built in less than a year's time (1963), with its magazine debut in finished form being a drop-in on the April '64 cover of Rod & Custom. Pretty low-key if it was in actuality a R&C project car as claimed. Rod & Custom said the double bubble to be "a glowing fluorescent orange," while the paint, according to its painter, Larry Watson, in Pat Ganahl's book, was (and the amazing thing about Larry is that he remembers every paint formula he's ever mixed-just ask him) "more of a pinkish/magenta candy color. Watson called the color 'Candy Raspberry,' which is 3/4 Nason Candy Red Toner with 1/4 Candy Burgundy. This is the same color [Watson] used on his Cad Brougham," added Pat.
The upholsterer is unknown, but I agree with Pat's assessment in that "it appears to be Martinez or Perez in style." As a side note, apparently these two upholstery artisans worked as a team on at least one occasion, as Bill Hines told me the interior of Tats Gotanda's Buddha Buggy '59 Impala was a collaboration of their combined talents.
A photo of note appears on page 54 of the Thacker/Roth book, showing Ed sitting in the nearly completed Road Agent's body mounted on what appears to be its finished chassis with chromed running gear. Watson is quoted again by Pat, saying, "Dirty Doug just stuffed paper everywhere and clogged things up so I wouldn't get any paint on the chrome. The chrome came first, then the paint." Indeed, there is a series of photos on page 84 of Pat's book showing Larry "doing the deed" to the Road Agent.
Anyway, the significance of the first photo mentioned is that the teardrop pod on the driver side isn't on the car, but was in an earlier shot appearing on the same page-was it broken off by accident? The hole left in the body looks rather jagged. There's reason for this, as sometime later when on the show circuit, Elden Titus was helping push the car onto its trailer after one of Darryl Starbird's shows when he inadvertently snapped-off that very same driver-side pod. Somehow, according to Elden, Darryl was able to quickly repair the damage and spot-in the paint (or have it repaired-Elden doesn't remember). Did Ed ever suspect, one wonders? Betcha' Elden was sweatin' bullets for a while-ha!
As to the question of a mold being used on the Road Agent, I feel that there must have been at least a two-piece mold for those teardrop pods if they're exactly symmetrical, or that there's still plaster locked inside, one or the other. This was Pat's theory for those "wings" over the Outlaw's headlights (because he didn't believe there was a mold for the grille shell), so I'll recycle it for those cool, rocket-like pods on the Road Agent's flanks, as well.
In conclusion, the Road Agent was fully and beautifully restored by Mark Moriarity, and now resides in the collection of Dave Bengochea of Winnemucca, Nevada.