Are rat rods going to be a fad?

Since I first loged on this board, I have Grown.

Yes Im older, but if you have talked to me in person, I act, talk, and relate like a 50 year old. I hang around with the older crowd, because frankly

Im the only one that knows about old cars at my young age. (Around where i live)

I was first drawn to the traditional way of life, at a young age.


To tell you the truth, it all started after i took at trip to York, PA for a car show and saw the SO- What crew.

Since then, ive been fixed on the bare bones, non- billetized cars.. I always went to the shows, and was drawn to the low budget rather than the 50k retirement rods..


I never had a computer. Never had Cable. Nor knew about magizines that were focused on this life style. I was just a young kid, looking at old 50s hot rod mags that were laying in the basement..

Once i loged on this board, i started to learn about Pretty much everthing.. I owe this board alot..

Between the techs, friendly people, cool rods, and a great enviroment. Ive grown.


Hey, ill admit im a Rat Rodder.
TO me its not a Fad. Ittta probably pass eventully like alot of things , but ill be in the shadows..


Thanks Hamb

steve-

 

Man, you must be a man of vision because that's exactly what's gonna happen. Actually, if you look around you'll see more painted cares than ever. A lot of guys have gotten tired of the primer look. We're seeing nicer interiors and suspension upgrades. Take my advice...sell me the '34 NOW! Recoupe some of your money and invest in something with a future....like pharmacies. Drugs are the next Microsoft!

 

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Recoupe some of your money and invest in something with a future....like pharmacies. Drugs are the next Microsoft!

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actually im investing in Pabst Blue Ribbon,after tonights show on "Rides" im sure the stocks will skyrocket!!!

 

Is your dad the one that bought my/Rockys old PU? If so, both of us had visions of real paint and perid details on that truck in its final form.

 

No, but Fat-rods are gonna be Rad!

HC

 

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The whole " building a car to look like you found it at the bottom of a lake " thing was played out and turned into a fashion statement almost as quickly as it started . The cars you see that are being built like that right now are gross parodys of themselves , the lowest , the shortest headers , the most no floor having , the most rusty unfinished welds . . . it was ugly to begin with and is now silly beyond its whole " unfinished barn-fresh " idea of building a car like that in the first place .

Take a look at all the cars that were described as " rat rods " in the first wave of that term and notice that they are mostly all ( slightly more ) finished , ( a little better ) painted , and look like real street driven homebuilt hotrods , instead of ugly rusty bailing wire heaps that look like they would shake apart over 60 MPH .


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BOO-YAH! Thanks =Mike= You hit it right on the head, chiefy.

 

crap, i just realized i need to finish my rat rod so i can sell it to some sucker so i can get a head start on the next fad.....

Ugly POS cars will always be chunks of shit. cars build with style and passion will always shine through. no matter if they are flat black, surface rusted or covered in shiney paint.

last month i sold a rusty beat up old model A coupe body. it had about 20 bullet holes in the driver side door. the guys plan for it? take it up to his cabin, shoot the whole thing full of more holes, then put it on a $10,000 chassis based on '32 rails with a blown big block chevy. stupid shit like that was never in style, it was never cool. the guy who is doing that is a dumbshit attention whore. he just wants to roll up to the cruise night in the rattiest rod, so he can be the coolest.
good for him.

 

Rat Rods?? DAWg were rocking 'DUBZ' now...Rat Rods were like sooo 15 minutes ago!

Dirty

 

Hopefully you aren't building "rat rods". Not sure what the hell a rat rod is, but Im thinkin it's a car that's built really crappy. I don't see many cars on the HAMB that are built that way. I heavily suggest that you concentrate on the traditional aspect, rather than crappy when building a car. Building a crappy car just isn't very smart. No one will respect the workmanship and on top of that you'll probably die in it and that would suck. Like my buddy Barnett always says "primer is a stage before paint". I see no shame in building a well engineered, period car and putting it in primer. However, I think in the next few years you will start to see more cars of the same style in gloss with more chrome. Personally, Im gonna get ahead of the curve and build an aluminum Gremlin!

 

I hate that term Rat Rod.It,s a fuckin Hot Rod.Nothing more and nothing less.And just because you are building a " Rat Rod" there is no excuse for unsafe construction or undrivability.
Apologies for the rant but that term pisses me off.I,m sick of telling Wankers that it is a HOT ROD.
End of rant.

 

Heh... he said "wankers"... heh heh.
-Crew

 

do what you want because you want to do it.
but if your car is unsafe, keep it off my fucking road. i dont care what title you give it.

rjb

 

I hope it passes cause I don't wanna see every hillbilly redneck around here tryin' to build a real hot rod. They can stick to their 60s Mustangs and 80s Camaros.

Leave the real rodz to the real men (and women).

 

Thought this was kind of amusing to add to a post that bitches about rat rods being the next big thing...if you type "rat rods" into a google search this is almost the first thing to pop up...

 

what's a rat rod?

 

I just don;t understand the point of making your car look like shit. I've seen a lot of punk and grunge kids in high school walk around in what were nice clothes, and they rip them up, stain them, write all over them so they look like social rejects in the name of some kinda underground fashion, I don't know. These type of people have the same mentality when it comes to cars. It's so much cooler if it looks like shit and I get mud all over it and spit on it and it's got flat tires. Rockabilly!

 

are rat rods gonna be a fad?http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB1&Number=503187&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=14&fpart=all

 

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I just don;t understand the point of making your car look like shit.

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Yeah just stick a visor on it and be done with it

 

Who cares I'm building a custom.

 

The Rat Rod fading away is just the reason people should build their cars to the best of their abilities and not thrash some piece of shit together in a weekend just because it's whats hot.

Build them to last...

Sam.

 

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Mass, Missed the point completely, did I mention that I am traditional, never owned anything billet, tweed, digital, or been on the power tour, take a look at my pics of the '33 and tell me I follow Boyd, Foose, or anything one of the guys, they are not for me, never have, never will. I create the style, I don't follow. I don;t need some pretty boy in Cali telling me how to look cool. Lata, Matt

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Your "pretty boy in Cali" comment is classic dumb-ass... first off, Mass isn't from California... secondly... uh, nevermind.

Sam.

 

i think you should build em to run and run good make sure its reliable but still within your budget. if you have a fuckin huge budget build it the way you wanna just as long as your not painting a car primer because its what others are doing.

 

Back in the early 80s before anyone ever heard of a rat rod, some bikers were building rat bikes. Bikes built on the cheap with cast off parts. Almost immediatly they started showing up with 100 inch built panhead motors with some oil throwed on the outside to make them grungy. I haven't been following that trend, it probably died out except for a few of the old hardcores that never followed trends anyway like the Gypsy Jokers.
30 years ago I read in a magazine that a true hot rod was an old roadster body with a big assed engine, poor brakes and wobley steering that scared the hell out of you every time you drove it.
The low buck 28 rpu I am starting on is a hot rod, that's what they've always been and will continue to be. Let the tangent facets like street rod, rat rod, resto rod all come and go and just keep building hot rods and don't worry about it. The guys that jump in because it is campy will soon find out that all the wrenchin and sweating to ride in a car that burns the heel off your shoe and cooks your ass in the summer, freezes you butt in the winter, has no wipers when it rains, well they will all morph into the new rat rod style with some overdone Boydmobile with flat paint and red wheels.

 

Who cares? And I feel kinda bad for even responding to this, and it's been said already, but why bother building a car that's a piece of shit? I can understand wanting to drive it, but fucking finish it! I don't care wether it's a hotrod or whatever either. When did flat black customs become somewhat popular too? Primer was never a goal, it was a step.

 

i dont know why but i need to reply.......... you must be bored to stir the pot this much matt???

RAT ROD/ PATINA = FAD

( almost anything in street rodder magizine)


traditional car = TIMELESS

(doane spencers car was just as cool in the 60s 70s 80s and 90s as it was when it was fresh in the 40s........maybe not to everyone but to people who understand...........if it wernt for old lakes pics pete and jake and lobeck wouldn't have a clue how to achieve the look

 

My roadster started as a top-notch car, and has been worn out to the point that it is approaching rat rod status. But it won't ever be a rat rod, because when it was built, it was built as well as the budget allowed.

The entire ethic of hot rodding has been (for the forty years I have been involved) to built the best piece you can with the parts/funding available. Building a rudimentary car with primer and few frills certainly fits in to this ethic. Building something deliberately fucked up/stupidly unsafe to be "in" is a waste of time, money and tin.

 

Rat rod is kinda a person to person term... everone has a slightly different idea about the definition... but who cares what you want to call it, just do what your doing. and hopefully when you look up, time will take care of the ones in it to look "cool"...

~josie

 

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My roadster started as a top-notch car, and has been worn out to the point that it is approaching rat rod status. But it won't ever be a rat rod, because when it was built, it was built as well as the budget allowed.

The entire ethic of hot rodding has been (for the forty years I have been involved) to built the best piece you can with the parts/funding available. Building a rudimentary car with primer and few frills certainly fits in to this ethic. Building something deliberately fucked up/stupidly unsafe to be "in" is a waste of time, money and tin.

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What he said...Well said!

 

Matt, I wasn't responding to your post with any ill will towards you, but with a little sarcasm. I just read your statement(forgot about this post) and I must say, chill out.
I am all for a spirited conversation about most items related to hotrodding, which is why I'm here on this board. However, use the "search" function first to see if this discussion has been had before(or in this case beaten to death). This way there won't be so much negative feedback when you post. Just a little tip from another new guy.

 

This is a great thought provoking thread, and I would just like to add that I...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.....oh uh build what you like cause I aint drivng it.