History what are the differences

ok please im begging you dont hate me or trash me im trying to learn i am really getting into traditional style but im having a hard time finding differences in traditional and that dreaded word RAT rod! Am i just young and stupid? i mean i can understand if your car has gross household items on it or is purposely made to look like junk that is not a hot rod in any since of the word that is trash...but there are cars out there that are built well that arent really traditional or rat rods ... i hope this doesnt get deleted or anything im really just trying to understand the culture more in depth please help dont hate

 

You haven't asked a question that a lot of other people haven't asked before. You are right, some cars have very distinctive features that put them into the RR category, like goofy components used where they should not be, tons of spiderwebs, maltese crosses, lawn furniture for seats, outboard motors for air cleaners, etc. But some rats are more subtle and just have things like flat paint, a somewhat shabby appearance, and things like that. Those are sometimes close to what we see on some cars that are considered hot rods too, so it gets confusing.

I guess the answer is that sometimes there is no answer. A particular car could be considered either, depending on who is doing the looking. I might call it a hot rod and another person might think it is a rat. I know this isn't the definative answer you were looking for probably, but the lines get blurred a little sometimes.

Don

I found the perfect example. Orkin evidently felt this car was a rat because they featured it as that in one of their commercials. But I see a really cool little hot rod that is actually pretty traditional. So what is it really ?

 

I have a few friends that have restored cars in the past who have told me that their next build is going to be a R** R**.
I always suggest that they study a bunch of the 1950's "little pages" magazines, come up with a time frame that they would like to emulate, and build a traditional style hot rod (or custom). To me this way is fullfilling, and also challenging.
I also tell them that my definition of building a R** R** is buying a clapped out old body, throwing every piece of junk you can find at it, and keeping what sticks.

 

try to build to an era, always do the best work you can do. if it's something you don't feel confident doing, like welding your own motor mounts, have a pro do for you. no shame in that, ever. nobody knows it all, it just seems that way sometimes. keep the "cartoonish" proportions to a minimum, tasteful era color, who could make fun of that? plus keep looking at other peoples cars and figure out what it is that makes you want to stare at it. no cobwebs, no street sign door panels, no camshaft spreader bars, etc. all thats been done to death. what is nice is a well built, good looking hot rod built the way you want. i could always look at those.

 

You tell me

Apologies for the first photo. It can be removed if requested.

 

a person could add airplane wings and a bath tub to the one in the first picture and it would'nt look out of place. i see webers, three big stacks and alot of plumbing. whats going on?

 

google rat rod images and start looking at everything that pops up. If you say " that thing looks like a thown together POS" = RR. If you can say, that's a little rough, but well built and looks cool = not RR.
The first piece of rebar you see = RR

 

In few words, Don hit the nail on the head...he is a voice of reason here IMO.

 

What lifestyle? Hot rods started from kids/young men taking smaller lighter cars and changing parts to make them perform better than the new cars that they could not afford. Using driveline parts from donor cars that were in good condition and cheap was the guiding principle. Tool accessibilty, welding skills, wallet thickness limited the results, and you have to drive to work at least 5 days/week.

 

Paint type or lack of paint really don't have much to do with it.
Its the builders at***ude that clearly shows thru. The selection of parts and execution of the modification is what makes it so.

The general media get it wrong most of the time, they will call anything a rat rod. If you follow that or look to that you will be confused and may also never understand. Justin beiber thinks his 80,000.00 Cadillac is a rat rod because he had it painted flat black. Kids will build bicycles with red wheels and white tires and call them rat rods.

 

i build hot rides, do not like the rr words but i would rather drive a rr with good metal work and safe than a street rod, one of my cars is in primer, it is a hot rod build what you want and enjoy

 

Anything built in Rapid City in the last two years that is rusty and has oddball **** bolted to it is a ****ing ratrod. Dalmans A pickup with the keg tank, that 27 coupe with a surfboard on top and others. If you need to shock with schlock you are wrong.

Welcome to the board.

 

Maniac,
The truth is that to actually put a name or discription on a rat rod is nearly impossible. There are places where the lines get blurred. It is one of those things that one just recognizes when they see it.

The absolute best thing you can do is emerse yourself in tradition and build the best traditional rod that you can in the process. Very seldom does anyopne get it perfect the first time, they didn't in the era that we recognize as traditional and they don't now.

With time you will recognize the difference just like telling the difference between an apple and a pear.

Don't get in a hurry, take time to enjoy the process. Ask questions along the way and don't be an *** about it. you will get more help and opinions then you want. You will learn no one was born knowing anything about it we all had to learn.

 

You could study the "compe***ion coupes" and learn quite a bit. I sometimes think rat rodders try to emulate this style but entirely miss the target because of a lack of understanding. Much the same as cooking a chunk of Bologna because you thought prime rib looked delicious.

 

31vic,
Forgive me for this but if you have never had prime rib, bologna will do just fine.

From what I remember when I first started to see what was called a rat rod they were what my Ol' Man wouild have called a jalopy, or would have called a beater.

There seemed to be a growing group of people that were just tired of the billeted out high zoot trailer queens and wanted to get back to something more simple and drivable. It more or less when down hill from there with each one trying to out junk the other till they got to the point that some would trailer some rusted out undrivable hulk to the fair grounds and sluff around in it.

A car doesn't have to have fine paint and expensive wheels to make it a traditional hot rod, it just won't be a show winning magazine worthy hot rod. Some traditional rods are just a little rough around the edges. It is all dependent on skill level and patience. They were back then and they are now.

I think that everyone should produce the best that they can but it is all personality dependent to some extent. you can tell a lot about a man by what he drives.

 

If it looks like a pile of ****, the floors are made with stolen street signs and parts are falling off.... it a Roach Rod!

Oh and don't take no offence but this thread is destined to be killed off, so learn while you can.

 

And you have to remember that a lot of the young guys who were racing in the late 40's and early 50's at the dry lakes had little or no money to build a car with along with no equipment outside of a box of wrenches a hack saw and someone's dad's, granddad's or uncles cutting/welding torch.
They still were built at the highest level of skill that the builder (s) had at the time and were able to afford. Paint and lead work on the welds on the chopped top didn't make the car go faster and cost money that could be put in the engine.

Today I think that the RR term is one that gets abused just as much as the term "Cl***ic" How many times have you heard a guy say that next year his car is going to be a Cl***ic because it will be 25 years old? Just about every time you drive your rod or custom out in public. At least in this area it is. that means my 1971 Daily driver 3/4 ton pickup is well beyond being a "cl***ic" and because of it's mismatched paint and dents and rusted rocker panels it probably qualifies as a RR in some people's books.

 

At least he asking and not comming on here with a billy bad *** at***ude about what he's going to do whether anyone likes it or not.

 

You're absolutely right!

The kid has respect.

 

Yep that is worth a lot.

I got a close friend that is one of the original FEW that used to say "Even on a bad day respect can save your teeth."

 

I think the Rat Bikes were actually out there prior to the Rods. Rusty with every possible non essential accessory tacked or affixed to some portion of the ride. It was about shock value, something to grab attention, and it did. Goth kids with pink hair, plaid pants, makeup and high top tennies - same thing here. If you cant grab attention by extreme quality & engineering, do it with disambiguration. Somewhere, along the line, the general public blurred the "RR" definition. Any Rod that was rusty or unfinished was referred to as a "Rat". Though I see guys, here on the HAMB, refer to rods with air bags or a certain stance as Rat Rods even though the car has quality construction and is well engineered. Next time you are undecided when viewing a Rod, look at the welds, panel fitment, quality of components and execution of build, if that impresses you, it probably shouldnt be called a Rat Rod. Of course, as usual, that's just my opinion Below: Left- Rat; Right-Priceless original ( both bikes found under Google search for Rat Rods)

 

to me a rat rod is all about stance, parts used and whatever stupid thing they did to the body that did not include paint. build quality wouldn't enter the picture, though poor build quality seems to be a hallmark of rat rods. talented welders and fabricators could build a rat rod just as easy as a hack with a harbor freight 110 volt flux core wire feed welder

 

Actually rat bike as in real rat bikes had nothing non essential tacked on them. They were built as bare bones as possible. I rode a "rat bike" for several years. It even won a rat bike award in a couple of shows that happened to be where I was.

We used to call those types of bikes "Hippy Bikes"

Pretty blurry and scratchy pic but this is a rat bike:

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder. As much as I dislike RR's it's the streetrods I walk past at shows.

 

When you **** up a nice ride to make a R..R.. you must be a redneck or mentally disturbed. MY $.02

 

There's been too many threads started by guys asking how to make their rusty or rust faster.
I know some of them are internet trolls looking to get some excitement but some of them aren't.

 

Going by some of the previous descriptions, these are both R Rs. While the roadster clearly is not one, the cobweb insert and matt black paint give it that label as far as the general public is concerned.

 

Hey, Harv...Thet coupe's a roadster.

 

another term without definition. "Street Rod".. WTF does that mean and why is it supposed to be a bad thing here on the HAMB?. Brizio builds Street Rods.. I usually walk towards them at a a show.

guess I'm just not hip to what is cool or not.

 

The truck I have have for my avitar could be considered a r** r** but it is safe no major rust and is a whole lot more fun than any streetrod I have ever worked on or driven.