So is the 'rat rod' craze officially over?

[Mike_G]

Seems like last year there were lots of "rat rods" and this year I haven't seen hardly any at NW model contests. Any thoughts?

[Harry P.]

Maybe not as "hot" as it was, but still alive. Like any other automotive fad or trend... they appear, they get a lot of attention for a while, and gradually they fade into the background and make room for the next fad. But I think rat rods are going to be around for quite a while.

[James2]

​Hopefully the term it self will disappear, and people will stop making new cars look old. But build old barn find types into Hot Rods.

The way Grandpa use to do!

[1930fordpickup]

I think Harry is spot on. They will never go away because the traditional rod movement is so big. The kids are into this type of car because they do not have a fat wallet for the billet special.

[Jim B]

Never did understand the whole rat-rod thing.

[Harry P.]

Never did understand the whole rat-rod thing.

It doesn't make any more or less sense than the lowrider thing. Or the donk thing. Or the billet rod thing. Or the ricer thing. Or the pro touring thing. Or the bosozoku thing. Or the...

well, you get the point.

[Rob Hall]

Never did understand the whole rat-rod thing.

I don't get it either..they just look crude and amateurish to me. Not a fan of rusty hacked up junk.

[Foxer]

Maybe it's because people are painting "rat rods" with candy apple paint now!

[Dr. Cranky]

There were quite a few at the ACME show over the weekend. I think they will be around for a while. I hope. I know I will continue to build them, fad or no fad.

What rat rods do for me, and I hope for others, is expand my imagination and force me to think outside the box.

[Erik Smith]

It's a mix - there are some built to the true sense (at least in some respect) to original rat rods. Those are fine - not everybody's cup o' tea but nothing is.

The other end are hot rods, high end stuff, painted to look old and neglected. Those are just silly and a bit deplorable, to me. They look fake and I was actually surprised how many I saw at the last show I went to.

[Chuck Most]

Not over- it's just blended in and become part of the mix just like Pro Touring, Gasser-look cars, and the like. I'm still waiting for '70's Street Freaks to make a comeback.

[Dr. Cranky]

The other thing I thought about and would like to add is that I am glad fads don't just "go away." Some people find them and get excited it about them. In my day many people claimed that lowriders were just a fad and they are still around. Not only that but they loaned lots of styling cues to many other types of vehicles.

I always leave it up to the individual builder and what kind of styrene journey they want to embark upon.

[Chuck Most]

The other end are hot rods, high end stuff, painted to look old and neglected. Those are just silly and a bit deplorable, to me.

That I never got myself. I know that sounds weird coming from a guy like me, but you have to 'fake' it on plastic- I can't just take a model kit, leave it in the woods for 50 years and have it look the way I want from natural weathering. I mean, yeah, I can tell that takes a lot of skill, but why? I want to see faded paint and patina, but I want to see the real thing.

[johnbuzzed]

In my opinion, the rat rods that we see built today are are the antithesis of the original rat rods- they were inexpensive builds that used what the builder had available at the time. It seems like a lot of what we see built today are planned rat rods; kinda like "Hmm, what if I could get (fill in the blank) and use it for/as (fill in the blank)?", and not like "Well, I got that old (fill in the blank) motor and the wheels from that old (fill in the blank) that I can use on that chassis". I'm not saying the "new" rat rods aren't cool, but they are far removed from the original, un-intentional builds.

[monkeyclaw]

I would have to say I wouldn't miss the "rats"....Rods or bikes. When I came up; having to drive or ride a "rat" was no a badge of honor; In fact, It was an outright public shaming every time you showed up in your "rat"....

You see Younglings; back in olden times we had this magic coating we called "PAINT"....We used on all of our automotive and motorcycle creations....you could blend it to achieve different colors; and make magical effects by layering it, and it was always the sign to others that a ride was nearing completion...Your badge of shame for driving an unfinished rod was finally being removed; almost as if someone had ripped a primer "scarlet letter" from your vestment...it was magical; all of the cruise night visitors who had seen the progression of your efforts would finally acknowledge that indeed, finally, you were one of them; a bonafide rodder; as you were now driving a "finished " car....Then came troubling times when some punk had to buck the system, and insist that his primer car wasn't primer at all....it was "SATIN"....Satin is for bedsheets my good fellow; not for cars! The punk gained several new friends, and they too had cars finished of this "Satin". They said it was Rocakabilly; and although they had not even lived in the 50's, they insisted that's how it was done....Soon, Paint was all but gone...even big companies like Harley Davidson and BMW made and sold vehicles finished in this "satin".....Troubling times indeed...this satin finishing has been mainstreamed into society like those mythical Kardashians; and I fear as difficult to get rid of. I declare that wee all must vow to protect ourselves with a shield....perhaps a clear shield....a shiny clear shield...perhaps a coat of clear....By golly that's it...A clear coat! That's what we've been missing this whole time...a shiny clear coat.

Matt

[mademan]

Not over- it's just blended in and become part of the mix just like Pro Touring, Gasser-look cars, and the like. I'm still waiting for '70's Street Freaks to make a comeback.

you and me both!!!!

[Ryan S.]

I think at it's heart, the rat rods were a way to build a car on a budget with out fancy/ expensive paint and get out there and drive it.

Is it possible that some of these people with them have now saved the money to spruce them up and get them painted or fixed up a little "nicer"? Maybe that's part of the change in the trend.

Just a thought.

[Ace-Garageguy]

The trend I've seen in 1:1 is that the build-quality of the rats is improving (fewer bubble-gum welds, for instance), and the cars are becoming more functional and safer...gradually approaching what the original hot-rod concept was all about: building a fast, safe car from scrounged bits.

I've never been a fan of cars built for shock value (including some of the sillier Kustoms, sky-high donks, insanely-cambered tuners, etc), but any genre that's well thought-out and constructed, with an emphasis on DRIVING (these things are CARS, remember), gets my vote as worthwhile.

[RadialDragon]

I don't get it either..they just look crude and amateurish to me. Not a fan of rusty hacked up junk.

These cars have more than just a design behind them. they are all about using era correct modifications to be loud and low. They are like the choppers of the automotive world. there is a whole lifestyle behind rat rodding and the creaters (Real rat rods). usually involves pin up girls, white T-Shirts and black leather jackets and lots of hair grease LOL

From Wikipedia : Rat-Rod "Originally a counter-reaction to the high-priced "customs" and typical hot rods, many of which were seldom driven and served only a decorative purpose. The rat rod's inception signified a throwback to the hot rods of the earlier days of hot-rod culture—built according to the owner's abilities and with the intention of being driven. Rat rods are meant to loosely imitate, in both form and function, the "traditional" hot rods of the era. Biker, greaser, rockabilly, psychobilly, and punk sub-cultures are often cited as influences that shaped rat rodding.

This guy probably did or would have built a "Rat Rod"

[Ace-Garageguy]

This guy probably did or would have built a "Rat Rod"

James Dean kinda liked Porsches, having a Speedster first, and later the mid-engined 550 Spyder he died in. He could afford to buy automotive performance.

The whole hot-rod thing came about because guys who appreciated fast, competent machinery and COULDN'T afford it developed the skills necessary to BUILD it, on the cheap, from discarded junk.

The "rat" thing was in fact a revolution against the high-dollar billet trailer-queen culture that had emerged (the cars mostly being BOUGHT-built, not built by their owners), but it quickly degenerated into a competition to see who could put together the ugliest, rustiest, and most useless pile of -----, poorly engineered, and in many cases, undrivable. I've followed rats down the road near Las Vegas that couldn't go faster than 30mph because all of their useless and poorly welded-on garbage was just a-shakin' and a-rattiln' too much, and dissolution seemed imminent.

Thankfully, from my own perspective, that kind of automotive stupidity is fading somewhat, and again, the cars are returning to the hot-rod roots.

Edited November 11, 2013 by Ace-Garageguy

[johnbuzzed]

Actually (if I remember correctly), he last drove a Porsche 356 Speedster...(but I stand corrected).

And I agree with Bill.

Edited November 11, 2013 by johnbuzzed

[ChrisBcritter]

James Dean had a 356 which he traded in on the 550 Spyder (and I can't believe that some Dean fan didn't save that 356 back then; it's never turned up) in which he was killed; before either of those he had an MGTD. His daily driver/race car tow rig was a white '55 Ford Country Squire.

Edited November 11, 2013 by ChrisBcritter

[RadialDragon]

I think maybe we are both doing so.. Seems everyone likes to think that he always had money. After his mother died from cancer his dad was left to care for him and couldn't afford to do so and sent him to live with his aunt on a farm. this is were he gained interest in Bull fighting and Car racing among other things. Had he not made it "big" as an actor I am sure he still would have made due with what ever he had and being that he would still had been of low income, it probably would have been something that we would consider a "Rat-Rod". Remember these cars back then aren't what they are made to be now. They were "Hot rods" Built by youngsters using what they had and could afford. If they could have afforded a nice paint job they probably would have done so. But the opposite was usually the case..

[johnbuzzed]

We need to look at the original hot rods of the '30's, '40's and '50's, then compare them to today's rat rods. Are they really the same?

[Ace-Garageguy]

. Remember these cars back then aren't what they are made to be now. They were "Hot rods" Built by youngsters using what they had and could afford. If they could have afforded a nice paint job they probably would have done so. But the opposite was usually the case..

I'm not sure exactly what the phrase "these cars back then aren't what they are made to be now" means in this context, but all you have to do is look through the pages of the early hot-rod mags, and research the history of the hobby, and you'll see that the majority of the cars at the dry lakes, and at the early drag-strips, were not shiny. They WERE mostly in primer, or just rough old paint. The shiny-painted and finished cars made it to the 'feature' pages of the mags, and they were what the average rodder aspired to (while he saved his lunch money for a paint job).

BUT, the big thing that separates them from many of today's "rat-rods" is that they were built PRIMARILY TO FUNCTION, and to GO FAST...whether for all-out top speed on the dry lakes, or to excel at acceleration in drag racing...and MANY had to double as reliable daily transportation for their builder / owners. The majority of rat-rods that this old hot-rodder has seen (your experience may differ) have been, as I've said before, poorly engineered, poorly thought-out and poorly constructed abortions that fail to accelerate, handle or stop particularly well. Many are built solely for visual shock-value, and that was NOT the reason the original hot-rods were (and continue to be) built.

It's also true that there ARE many rat-rod-looking vehicles out there that DO function very well, and are in the spirit of the originals they draw their inspiration from. Patina or surface rust doesn't define a hot-rod OR a rat-rod, and one car can be both. But a poorly-constructed, ill-functioning conglomeration of old parts is just junk.

Edited November 11, 2013 by Ace-Garageguy