The design of the body brings up the question, who first designed this style of trike body?
An Ad for Himsl trike bodies. Love the illustration. The art is not signed, but I have a strong suspicion it was done by Ed Newton. From the July '71 issue of Choppers Magazine.
Art Himsl's Preying Mantis as featured in the larger Nov. '70 Choppers magazine. It had been previously featured in Roth's July '69 digest sized Choppers magazine. Both articles mention the sale of the semi mass produced bodies. The first article calls it the Himsl Brother's Mantis and mentions Art's brother Mike. Art is still going strong but, what happened to Mike?
Because of the dates mention above, I'm sure Art's design was influenced by Roth's first trike, The Candy Wagon.
The trike won Custom Bike of the Year at the '69 Oakland Roadster Show. Art's Alien show car can be seen in the garage in the background.
Roth's Candy Wagon on the Dec.68 cover. One might assume that Ed Newton designed it, but it may not be wholly true.
The article inside shows Newton's early more ominous designs featuring booze related items plus a machine gun. Roth wanted something more kid friendly. Note that the high back seat body is absent in the drawings and nothing is mentioned in the article of the seat body's design orgin.
Was another Roth artist, namely David Mann, the one really responsible for the Candy Wagon's seat/body? Notice the pipes too, and compare to the Candy Wagon cover above. Did Roth decide on the style after seeing this? Did Dave do it after seeing the CW or see another sketch of Newt's, or visa versa? Based on this art and the date, I think Dave had the idea first. Roth published this poster in '68.
