Rat Rods Love ‘em or Hate ‘em

There has been a type of car that has been around for a while known as a Rat Rod and it is a hard type of car to define. You may have seen this car on Speed Channel or maybe at a Show? But what is a Rat Rod Exactly? To some a Rat Rod is an imitation of the low budget Rods of the 50’s and 60’s, others it is a work of art and others just hate them. What are these cars and how did they start?

            No one is really sure where the name Rat Rod came from. Some say it was the December 1972 Issue of Rod & Custom Magazine were they featured an unfinished Rod. Others say an article by Gary Baskerville of Hot Rod Magazine had the first Rat Rod and he used the term to describe an unfinished 32 Ford. Hot Rod Magazine themselves claim that it was Lowbrow Artist Robert Williams’ 32 Ford that was painted with just Primer that was the first Rat Rod.

            Now with Rat Rods there are a few types of cars that can be considered Rat Rods and some cars that really aren’t Rat Rods though they get called it. The Following are the types of cars that are Rat Rods.

The First type is the Budget Rod Style- These are generally unpainted, lower budget Rods that still safe and drivable. They are really just like the 50s Jalopies, they usually try to look as finished as possible but still unfinished and a lot of times these cars are daily drivers. I prefer to call these Jalopies or Budget Rods I just don’t like the term Rat Rod Much.

The Second type of Rat Rod is a more modified Style- Some people hate this look, and others don’t mind it. They are usually unpainted Rods that are lowered, have chopped roofs, some have really high up shifters, they are still safe but they are not era Accurate at all.

            Now the thing with Rat Rods today is it seems everyone either loves them or Hates them. I think the reason for most of the Hate of Rat Rods is, there are a lot of new semi younger builders (they are usually in there 30s) who build a car they call a Rat Rod though the cars either are extremely crazy modified or not even a Hot Rod at all.

The First type of the hated Rod is this- A guy will be a finished Hot Rod that has been painted, has a full interior, it has a good motor and he will spend money to make it look destroyed and rusted!

The Second type of Hated Rod is this- A Rod purposely built to be to be unsafe with Wires sticking out all over the place, holes in the floor, no firewall, and a broken grill with the sharp metal sticking out. These guys ended up building a crazy not safe Rod.

The Last type of Unsafe Rod is the Ebay Rods- These aren’t even Hot Rods at all, just any type of car that is painted primer black and given white wall tires with red rims and it is listed on Ebay as a Rat Rod.  

            It’s the type of Rods that I mentioned above that more people think are Rat Rods and that’s where Rat Rods get most of there Hate from (that and the guy with the trailer queen Street Rod or the Ricer owner). I like the good real style of Rat Rods that I mentioned earlier though I prefer finished, dialer driver/strip style rods.

            Do you guys have an opinion on Rat Rods? If so leave it as a comment below.

Rat Rods Love em or Hate em for Rat Rods and Hot Rods