Rat Rod or Not

There was some discussion at the local cruise-in tonight as the whether this car qualifies as a rat rod.

What is the GRM opinion?

Definately not traditional.

The stacks look ghey.

Shawn

Front discs = not a rat rod and the stacks are really lame

The car in the first pic on the left, looks to be a traditional rat/nostaligic rod.

This, while I give him props for expressing himself through automotive sculpture, is not appealing.

Painted frame rails, contrast painted front suspension, discs, stacks, all say hot rod, not rat rod. And an ugly hot rod in my book too, though apparently well-prepared.

I'd say it's a modern hot rod built in the style of a rat rod. Definitely not a 'proper' rat, though - no patina, aluminum radiator, even the Jack D overflow bottle looks too fresh.

But lose the stacks and I think it would be cool.

The owner doesn't claim it is a Rat Rod. He says "too many modern things". Some of the other folks were calling it a Rat Rod.

So far you folks caught the disk brakes but there is one other big item in the same picture that takes it out of the Rat Rod category.

There is a big difference between a Rat Rod, a Hot Rod, and a Street Rod. That is definitely a Street Rod.

I have to agree with JFX001 - good effort at expression, and really only a few items away from something I would find pretty cool. Too much polished metal to be traditional, but not enough to look consistent (the Jack Daniels bottle for an overflow next to a polished radiator has me puzzled). The exhaust stacks detract from a fairly clean cab design. While in detail the shiny floor in the bed, the green gas tank, and "V" shaped bed sides are cool, they don't "fit" together very well. The doors also don't quite fit -a better color match and rounding out the top and bottom would help alot. Last, not sure about the green tank and suspension. Might be better in person, in natural light - I really like the bronze + black combo.

On the good side - the frame looks great, the stance works very nicely on the truck, the front end grill is nice (not exactly traditional, but it kinda works for me), love the engine set back relative to the front axle, the cab is nicely centered relative to the front and rear axles, the rear overhang looks good, and it is successful in the most important criteria for me when looking at cars - I think about how much fun it would be to build my own hot rod.

Mark

The fact it's bagged in itself makes it a neo-traditional build.

Personally I've always hated 'rat rods' - both the word and the heaps of crap some folks throw together without regard to a number of things and call a 'rat rod'. Almost like it's cool to have the worst thought out & half arsed built car... but that's neither here nor there.

Edit: I should clarify. I have absolutely nothing against a well built traditional hot rod. I have everything in the world against some of these half assed heavily Z framed, hugely chopped and half assed channeled monsters being thrown together without regard toward putting a lick of actual quality into the build. That's where my problem lies.

Seems like it's got WAY too nice of a paint job to be a rat. Doesn't a proper rat rod "paint" consist of whatever is left after 50 years of corrosion?

Rat Rodz (always with Zs) Are often as rusty as possible or flat black. While it doesn't have the usual skulls and shifter through the roof, the stacks and general mismatched appearance screams semi-rat to me. Traditional rods did have lots of polish, but not on aluminum radiators and alternators.

This is below is defiantly a rat rod. Compare.

I'm so sick of the debate of what is / what is not a "proper" XXXX rod. Listen douuchebag - I don't care if your car has a flathead with an offy intake and tail lights from a 1923 Allis Chalmers combine. I also don't car if that other guy is sporting an LS7 in a fiberglass '32. Both can be cool. Get over yourself.

*Note - "you" isn't referring to anyone in this thread. Just those douchcanoes that get too full of themselves at car shows.

DILYSI Dave wrote: I'm so sick of the debate of what is / what is not a "proper" XXXX rod. Listen douuchebag - I don't care if your car has a flathead with an offy intake and tail lights from a 1923 Allis Chalmers combine. I also don't car if that other guy is sporting an LS7 in a fiberglass '32. Both can be cool. Get over yourself. *Note - "you" isn't referring to anyone in this thread. Just those douchcanoes that get too full of themselves at car shows.

+1

But I do have an opinion :

I think it's generally cool.

Don't like the stacks.

He's trying too hard w/ the Jack Bottle.

Is that primer or a bad doody brown paint job?

Hal wrote: The owner doesn't claim it is a Rat Rod. He says "too many modern things". Some of the other folks were calling it a Rat Rod. So far you folks caught the disk brakes but there is one other big item in the same picture that takes it out of the Rat Rod category.

OHV engine?

To a traditional hot rodder like me, a rat rod is a hot rod plain and simple. Hot Rods were when you took whatever parts laying around the shop, threw them together with a welder, and dropped in the biggest engine you could find. Nowadays they call that a rat rod and they are artfully designed. In my opinion, a rat rod is manufactured patina. A true hot rod has real patina. A street rod has glossy paint.

I don't mind the stacks, but the misplaced and random glitz, like the brushed aluminum bedfloor, the chrome bullets in the side of the bed, the fabricated sheet metal of the bed, the aluminum radiator and pristine jack daniels bottle... its a big mismatch of styles IMHO. I call those "not rods".

Its all an artform and I'm sure he/she did it the way they wanted it. I'm one of the rare rodders with that mindset these days. Some hardcore rodders have very strong opinions on what they should and shouldn't be.

One of my favorite emerging trends is one that I don't even know what to call, but its making hotrods with things like semi truck axles and big diesels. They end up looking kinda mad-max freaky, but they're neat.

It's a rat rod that went 400% overbudget.

Hal wrote: The owner doesn't claim it is a Rat Rod. He says "too many modern things". Some of the other folks were calling it a Rat Rod. So far you folks caught the disk brakes but there is one other big item in the same picture that takes it out of the Rat Rod category.

Radial tires.

Carson wrote:

Hal wrote: The owner doesn't claim it is a Rat Rod. He says "too many modern things". Some of the other folks were calling it a Rat Rod. So far you folks caught the disk brakes but there is one other big item in the same picture that takes it out of the Rat Rod category.

Radial tires.

Everyone is missing the electric rad. fan he has on there.

I'm going to have to agree - definitely not a rat rod. The fact that the paint actually has a bit of a gloss to it kills it (even if the door doesn't match). It needs some patina, and the ETIII rear wheels and 5-spoked American fronts are too over-budget for a rat rod.

Though I have to admit, I kinda like the 'stacks.

The stacks work if it has a huge smokey diesel. Of course then they would need flaps on top of them.

Carson wrote:

Hal wrote: The owner doesn't claim it is a Rat Rod. He says "too many modern things". Some of the other folks were calling it a Rat Rod. So far you folks caught the disk brakes but there is one other big item in the same picture that takes it out of the Rat Rod category.

Radial tires.

I meant the airbag suspension.

Alonso wrote: Front discs = not a rat rod and the stacks are really lame

As long as the brakes are from the junk yard, and not fabricated, I'm ok with the disks.

For the Rad Rod judge- too many new parts, not enough from the junk yard.

But cool personal expression, though. Not my cup of Joe, but bless the guy for having a cup of his own Joe.

Eric

DILYSI Dave wrote: ... those douchcanoes that get too full of themselves at car shows.

+1

Anybody can piece together a car when it doesn't matter where the parts come from. It takes a lot more talent, time and work to make a car look like it did when it came out of the factory 75 years ago. Rare, old cars that get driven (and repaired when broken) are way neater than new "artwork" with an engine.

There is nothing to consider when building a rat rod and anyone who says otherwise is absolutely retarded and out of their place. There is a traditional style, yes. But the whole thought process about the rat rod is that the builder isn't supposed to give a E36 M3 what other people think. They're built on the desire for speed and not to fit into what society thinks a "decent" looking vehicle should be. You guys criticize what the rats look like because they aren't fitting into a certain "class" of what you think they should be. That is what a rat rod truly is. It is not fitting. And these people who spend thousands of dollars mismatching parts don't have a damn clue about them either. They are part of the fabric of America and it doesn't matter what year the car was produced regardless of what people think. If someone wants to race, and builds a vehicle on a budget, and is more worried about the mechanical workings of the thing other than the outward appearance, it is a rat rod. Nothing more. Read up.