<P> Rat Fink is one of the several hot rod characters created by artist Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, one of the originators of Kustom Kulture of automobile enthusiasts . Roth conceived Rat Fink as an anti-hero answer to Mickey Mouse . Rat Fink is usually portrayed as either green or gray; comically grotesque and depraved - looking with bulging, bloodshot eyes, an oversized mouth with sharp, narrow teeth, and wearing red overalls with the initials "R.F." on them . He is often seen driving cars or motorcycles . </P> <P> Roth began airbrushing and selling "Weirdo" T - shirts at car shows and in the pages of Hot Rod publications such as Car Craft in the late 1950s . By the August 1959 issue of Car Craft, "Weirdo shirts" had become a full blown craze with Ed Roth at the forefront of the movement . </P> <P> Rat Fink was advertised for the first time in the July 1963 issue of Car Craft . The ad called it "The rage in California". Also in 1963 the Revell Model Company issued a plastic model kit of the character . The initial run of the kit was from 1963 to 1965, but the Rat Fink kit along with Roth's other creations have been re-issued by Revell over the years . Rat Fink continues to be a popular item to this day in Hot Rod and Kustom Culture circles in the form of T - shirts, key chains, wallets, toys, decals, etc . </P> <P> Other artists associated with Roth also drew the character, including Rat Fink Comix artist R.K. Sloane and Steve Fiorilla, who illustrated Roth's catalogs . Rat Fink and Roth are featured in Ron Mann's documentary film Tales of the Rat Fink (2006). Jeannette Catsoulis reviewed in The New York Times: </P>

Where did the term rat fink come from