Just wondering.....was reading an early 70's easy rider and there was a picture of what they called a Rat bike....it was just as cool as the other bikes but it was just worn and dirty,............did I miss this post?oh well let me have it
Maybe some old Golchainer smarted off with the term "ratrod" that might have been parked next to his trailer queen.
i been doing some internet fishing and the term "rat "to describe a vehicle so far was used as early as 1973.....so far oh and it was used to describe a ral worn out used bike..........Marq...ill keep fishing
Rat Rod, that's so 70's. What about Retro rod or Newstalgia???? These names are usually used to describe a car that doesn't fit in. I've always liked the term HOT ROD! As for the old warn look, weren't they usually called an Uncle Daniel's ride???
I call any rod thats in primer or a patina finish a rat rod. The term came from the "rat bikes" in Europe, I think. I was surfing the 'net about this subject once & there seemed to be a ton of rat bikes across the pond. I don't understand why so many people get thier panties in a bunch when someone says rat rod. WTF? Thats what they are. Only thing I can figure is that some guys hate the term becuz it shows that they are building something thats popular- & they wanna be unique just like everyone else. I actually prefer the term "bare-bones" rod, but hearing rat rod is cool w/ me.
rat rod in the bike terms are a cycle put together with many other parts from different bikes, emblems and little knic knacks,sort of a collage of items not really haveing function but more of display some of the bikes are quite interesting ,i just came back from the lsie of man,and you see abunch of em i always thought of them as a homelss person's shopping cart cycle,all kinds of stuf bolted on and tied on
Well, linguistically speaking, "rat" obviously dwindles down out of the term "ratty" meaning worn out, old, and less-than-perfect. The rat look is all about, IMHO, a car that looks ratty and beat with good, strong mechanics. There's a history trapped in that patina that we refuse to paint over and so forth. -Taylor
[ QUOTE ] The SHIFTERS did it. PS. Notice the smiley, and dig the sarcasm. [/ QUOTE ] Think some guys in Europe beat them to it........
All I know is, a term that gets used to much starts to suck. when goofballs like my neighbor that dont know shit about old cars start using it( are you building a rat rod? ) I know im fucking over it. It just sounds GAY after that.
I'm sure the term "rat rod" was originally meant disparagingly to describe a ride not worth the name "real hot rod". The "rat rod" movement has come about as a pedulum swing away from the ultra-modern, packed with creature comforts, built by someone else, mega-bucks street rods which somehow managed to appropriate the "hot rod" label. The guys here seem to be as much concerned with their own growth as builders, fabricators, rediscoverers of old-time know-how and rod history as they are drivers or admirers of vintage machinery. I like the one member's tag line about "if you didn't build it, it's not yours". Something like that. This is kind of like the cyberspace version of local garages I remember as a kid. A place where you could go to hang out, learn something and be exposed to other ideas and ways of thinking. Wise-ass punks got ignored or put in their place but if you wanted help everyone was willing. Nobody laughed because you were ignorant. There was a certain pride taken in mentoring new guys, especially when they got good and you could say you remembered that guy back when.The camaraderie and wisdom-sharing is what really HAMB rat rodding is about for me. Be cool, Bob
The media needs to hang a label on everything,so they can package and resell it back to us. "Rat Rods" developed as a reaction to the Billetclad,painfully smooth and shiney, Pastel and Tweed,Gold Chainer Trailer Queens that have become too common with their color matching cry baby dolls. People were building minimalist cars with traditional influences,using lower cost alternative parts, compared to what was popular at the time. Once the magazines catch on,it becomes "fashionable",and everyone wants to get involved. Then Dave Hill threw fuel on the fire,and people started trying to out Rat the other guy. Eventually,some "Rat Rods" became caricatures of the traditional rods they evolved from. Now the low cost alternative parts cost more than the aftermarket streetrod parts.
Why don't we "coin" a new term.......... RustRods........ or Rusty Chainers? Notsogoldchainers? Oh I know, Tarnished Rodzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I think this whole "rat rod" thing, or whatever its name is, has gone way out of control... I think a lot of cars are showing up, which are way overdone. Not very tradtional... Not the way they were done back in the days... But it's, like you guys say, a media/trend kind of thing...
[ QUOTE ] As for the old warn look, weren't they usually called an Uncle Daniel's ride??? [/ QUOTE ] I've always used that term too. I thought I was the only one who said that. I saw a clean little 67 Chevy pickup awhile back at a show. It had the original pea green paint all rubbed through and little white wall old man tires. I told my wife, "Hey look at that Uncle Daniel truck" and everybody around looked at me like I was speaking Greek or something. At least my wife knew what I meant.
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] As for the old warn look, weren't they usually called an Uncle Daniel's ride??? [/ QUOTE ] I've always used that term too. I thought I was the only one who said that. I saw a clean little 67 Chevy pickup awhile back at a show. It had the original pea green paint all rubbed through and little white wall old man tires. I told my wife, "Hey look at that Uncle Daniel truck" and everybody around looked at me like I was speaking Greek or something. At least my wife knew what I meant. [/ QUOTE ] How about an old "Uncle Jessie" ride?
The direction of this post is wandering in two directions. On one path the cars that are, today, commonly called "Rat Rods" have always been around. Hell, you could call any car "the judges" at a car show didn't give a trophy too because it wasn't "detailed" clean enough,a rat rod. The other idea path is, When and where did the term get coined, and by who, "US" or "THEM"? and which magazine printed it first, thereby making it a common term? Does it go all the way back to that unpainted touring car that Richard Graves drove, full of babes, soaked to their skin in the rain on the cover of R & C? If so, it was before a lot of the guys on this board were born! What's the big deal? Why worry about it? Rat Bikes and the title have always been cool, I think anyway. And big block Chevy's have always beem called rat motors and SBC's mouse motors. DOn't worry about it, It's only a MOVIE!
[ QUOTE ] I don't understand why so many people get thier panties in a bunch when someone says rat rod. [/ QUOTE ] i agree with you there.
Actually it was The Stranglers that who responsible. Their album Rattus Norveigiccus is responsible for everything 'rat'. It's irresponsibility personsified, it's about not being to play your instruments or having control over your mig. It's stupid, it's dumb, it's DIY, but best of all it bothers the squares, so who gives a damn? Am I a rat rodder? Who knows? My shit runs and it stops, it goes around corners and it can be driven everyday, so kill me now!
good Call Nads, I'm behind ya there, it was the Stranglers who are responsible, I was thinking last night I need to get some more CD's of the albums I grew up on, and that one in particular. as for the Rods, Fuck it, build em, drive em, have fun and let others worry about the labels.
The Jalopy Journal
