Ron ended up having a bubbletop custom blown through a steel ring his father fabricated. As friends, the Aguirres shared both their knowledge of bubble-making and hydraulics with Ed. The Aguirres were pioneers in the use of hydraulic suspensions as well as bubbles. Roth, however, would use hydraulics for his aircraft-like single stick control only, not to adjust the Bandit's ride height.
As to how the controller actually worked, we'll go to Fawcett Book No. 485 from 1961, "Hot Rod Ideas" by Griff Borgeson and Wayne Thoms, where Roth in his Beatnik Bandit comprise the main cover image: "Most interesting of all are the car's unorthodox and imaginative controls. The machine is a mass of B-26 wing-flap hydraulic units and slave cylinders, some of which are basic to the smooth function of Roth's 'unicontrol.' Moving this single lever forward causes the car to accelerate; moving it back applies the brakes; move it to the left and the car turns left; and right is right." They go on to say, "Then there are the little antennas above the headlights. The one on the left is for raising and lowering the Plexiglas canopy; left is up, right is down. The antenna on the right is there to receive signals from a remote control transmitter. By means of goodies borrowed from missile-systems technology, the Bandit's engine can be lit-off and warmed up from your living room armchair. The top can be raised and lowered, and the car can be driven, all by remote control."
But let's get back to that "mold" or "no mold" controversy surrounding the Bandit. There wasn't exactly a traditional car feature run when finished in the July '61 issue of R&C, but rather a comic book-style story illustrated by Joe Henning. The interesting aspect of this, however, is the opening illustration of a cartoon hand holding fanned-out "teaser" shots of Ed's latest creation and model Melody Ward as well. Melody had been "Show Queen" for Mickey Thompson's 1st National Custom, Race, Auto, and Boat Show held at L.A.'s Shrine Auditorium in January of the same year where the Bandit was a featured attraction. In the background of the photo right of center (if you can take your eyes off lovely Melody in her fishnet stockings), you can plainly see what appears to be an upside-down 'glass body mold for the Bandit. Oddly, no one remembers a mold, but photos don't lie-at least they didn't way back then. In the aforementioned Fawcett book, a caption reads, "Dirty Doug works on the nose section of the female mold as intent helpers pound and kibitz." Unlike R&C, Car Craft did run a "proper" feature in its May '61 issue, where three images of the Bandit and wild Rothesque font proclaimed "Roth's New Show Rod." In this feature, one caption pops out, reading in part, "The present body was made from of fiberglass mold of this master body." Rather jumbled syntax, but the message is clear-there was a mold! I'd like to thank Mark Moriarity (restorer of several of Roth's vehicles, and builder of both the Futurian tribute and Outlaw clone) for pointing out this mold mystery to me.
Another curiosity is both the Outlaw and Beatnik Bandit follow the "Bellflower School" of panel painting started by Larry Watson and are reported to be the only two 'glass cars Roth did the paint jobs on. After that, he farmed out the paint to-who else?-Larry Watson, who painted a string of Rothmobiles in exchange for T-shirts and show cards. And note, that except for Rotar (Roth's "flying" car not in this exhibit), all were pretty much straight candy and pearl-no graphics at all, except for Ed's masterful touch of pinstriping.
The Beatnik Bandit was restored at Harrah's in 1980, along with the Outlaw. Today the Bandit is a permanent resident of the National Auto Museum in Reno, Nevada.