Rat Rods: what sort of social commentary are they making? Anyone up to reading 500 words on it?

[HistoryBuff]

I just went to the Bo Huff Rockabilly extravaganza in Riverside, CA where there were about a dozen what I call true rat rods, i.e. unpainted, looking like they violated about half the rules regarding lighting, ride heighth, etc. but what the hey...I'd like to post my impressions here on why rat rods exist/persist and see if anyone agrees with me or has their own view. I don't know how to download pictures but if you send me an e-mail I could send them to some member that does for them to post. Looking forward to hearing if any of you want to discuss these what I call "outlaw" cars.

[trimacar]

Anyone who owns an antique or older car is making some kind of social commentary.

The majority of collectors on this forum like original cars, either nice unrestored of restored to factory specifications or better. Their statement is, this is how our ancestors lived, these were the cars they drove, they weren't perfect but they were great transportation.

Then, there are the hot rod people, some who show excellent workmanship, but want to take an old car and improve it to more modern standards, or higher performance, their statement is, this is how I would have done it.

Now, we get to the rat rods, some are low budget, some go to great expense to look shabby. Personally, I think it's just the extension of hot rodding that says well, it's all been done, so let's make it look like crap and call it something new. Their statement is "hey, I'm different", but of course like all such fads, the more someone tries to be different the more they end up being the same as so many other people.

Everyone can do what they wish, and enjoy the car hobby. I only get perturbed when someone "improves" a rare or very desirable car, taking history away from us all.....kind of like putting red marks on the Declaration of Independence in an attempt to edit it...

[8E45E]

Six pages worth on the Studebaker Forum: -----> http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?9899-What-do-you-think-of-ratrods&highlight=ratrods

Craig

[Matt Harwood]

Cars have always been fashion and rat rods (a term I detest) are just one aspect of it. They may be built down to a price, they may be inspired by the original hot rods built from spare parts from a junk yard, and they may be intentionally trying to re-create a bygone era, but they're still about fashion. Go to any cruise night and you'll see a half-dozen of them covered in primer with various parts bolted on and they will be intentionally crude. Maybe it's backlash against the high-dollar, ultra-finished rods, but it's definitely a sub-culture with its own rules and standards (even if the rule is there are no rules).

I do think some are cool and I like that guys are going out and having fun with their cars. I get kind of weary of the intentional "hey, look how cool this is because it's old!" kind of vibe that many of these cars give off, but they're also doing unusual things with unusual cars and bodies that would have otherwise gone to the great scrapyard in the sky. And for that reason, I'm OK with the whole thing.

Just stop calling them rat rods. Please.

[uh6077]

Like anything when they are done right they are pretty cool. There is a fine between "spot on" and "overdone cliche". One thing I dislike is they all feel the need to dress the part. Slicked back hair, cuffed pants, usually some suspenders and just begging to be noticed. Enough already

[HistoryBuff]

Like anything when they are done right they are pretty cool. There is a fine between "spot on" and "overdone cliche". One thing I dislike is they all feel the need to dress the part. Slicked back hair, cuffed pants, usually some suspenders and just begging to be noticed. Enough already

I went over to the Studebaker Club and read the six pages but they are all over the place on opinion;some feeling that rat rods are junk, others that they can be fun if you can get over the remarks some people make. I can sympathize with someone whose 100% stock car was still sent over to the spectator area at some concours because of the wrong air filter or something, enough things like that happen and you can see going to the world of rat rods where no one cares if it is original. When I used to go to concours with my Ferrari, I chose "non judged" class so there would be no hassles. And I kept a dead fly in the back window ledge and when people would comment on it I'd say "That's an Italian fly."

No one on the Studebaker commentary mentioned the Steampunk angle. I define Steampunk as that era when all the new inventions, many steam powered, were coming along, and lots of prototypes were ingenious , made of brass (see the movie Wild Wild West). The essence of steampunk is to add wild things like magnifying lenses over small gauges, bulb horns shaped like snakes,

There is a guy named Gary Wales in LA that builds hot rods out of old firetrucks but they are very steampunk, but finished too beautifully to be rat rods. So I say the whimsical steampunk element is a small part of rat rod-dom and good for a laugh. Also the pinup girls at the Riverside Rockabilly event were fun to see and brought out a lot more female participation in the car hobby that I have ever seen at a regular concours where everything on the car has to be oh-so-correct.

[nick8086]

George Barris. made cars or hot rods..(They said the same thing about him in the early years - just a guess)

I took these last year...

Edited December 1, 2014 by nick8086 (see edit history)

[Guest AlCapone]

Cars have always been fashion and rat rods (a term I detest) are just one aspect of it. They may be built down to a price, they may be inspired by the original hot rods built from spare parts from a junk yard, and they may be intentionally trying to re-create a bygone era, but they're still about fashion. Go to any cruise night and you'll see a half-dozen of them covered in primer with various parts bolted on and they will be intentionally crude. Maybe it's backlash against the high-dollar, ultra-finished rods, but it's definitely a sub-culture with its own rules and standards (even if the rule is there are no rules).

I do think some are cool and I like that guys are going out and having fun with their cars. I get kind of weary of the intentional "hey, look how cool this is because it's old!" kind of vibe that many of these cars give off, but they're also doing unusual things with unusual cars and bodies that would have otherwise gone to the great scrapyard in the sky. And for that reason, I'm OK with the whole thing.

Just stop calling them rat rods. Please.

Matt What do you call them ?

Wayne

[HistoryBuff]

George Barris always painted his cars. If they were for himself, he liked a candy gold. My remarks are mostly toward rust-colored or dull metal (steel with a protective coating but no paint or primer( cars.I'll go ahead and put my rough draft here for you readers to defend or pick apart like matadors with those swords...

RAT RODS: Yes, they still exist, but are seldom found…

By History Buff

I remember when I discovered rat rods. It was only about five years ago, when I went to an early Saturday morning event called “Donut Derelicts” that takes place in Huntington Beach, not far from the ocean. I remember there were some sports cars, some classic postwar cars and a few prewar there, but over in the corner, almost unnoticed, were some scuzzy unpainted hot rods. I went over there and discovered that the owners showing those cars were uniformly, grizzled older guys who looked like they could have actually built those cars 30, 40 years ago. I asked them “Why aren’t your cars painted?” and they answered proudly “Oh we don’t believe in paint.”

I dismissed them as an aberration, as I had been to hundreds of concours on the west coast and never seen cars like this—cars that looked precariously welded together, as if all it would take to have an instant dis-assembly was taking one railroad track crossing at speed.

And for the next few years, I didn’t see any Rat Rods.

But recently, in November 2014 I went to an event called “Bo Huff’s Rockabilly Extravaganza” in Riverside, CA and saw that there are dozens and dozens of them right here in Southern California, though the event also attracted owners of ‘50s style “lead sled” custom cars and musclecars.

Based on what I saw, here’s my definition of true “Rat Rod.”

They are cars that are put together without any heed to how they will look painted because, to some builders, they may never be painted. Paint is for sissies. They are assemblages of the shapes and pieces they happen to like.

The engine is usually on display either with no hood or a big hood scoop or hole for the carburetors. Sometimes the exhaust pipes are headers with no pretense at a muffler, just four pipes jutting out each side and upward or downward.

The true Rat Rod also recycles used parts not only from cars and trucks but from airplanes. The really “in” ones have “bomber seats” lightweight aluminum seats that were used in bombers in WWII. Sometimes with no padding or “temporary padding” that can be removed. The barer the interior is, the more metal that shows, the more “rat rod” it is.

Since it’s California, I also saw Mexican blankets used in the upholstery or minimal carpeting.

A few of them had pin stripes though you have to wonder what’s the point of striping something that is not painted?

One writer in the field suggested that Rat Rods were brought back after a writer in Hot Rod magazine invented the term. That article postulated that the rat rods were embraced by bikers and "punk" elements of society. At the event I was at, I saw a little of that—the rat rodders were, by showing their cars, showing a kind of “screw you” attitude toward the people right across from them with custom cars that had lavished tens of thousands on special mag or chrome wheels, and metalflake paint. The rat rodders, by contrast, had cars that look like props for Max Max or some other post apocalypse movie.

And, unlike the event I went to in Huntington Beach, the Rat Rods I saw in Riverside had plenty of support on the fashion side—the woman wearing either 1940s and 1950s hair styles and clothing, influenced by Betty Page, the famous soft porn model of the early ‘50s. The most spectacular female had a dress that looked like form fitting rubber.

The men wore battered jeans, sleeveless jeans jackets or t-shirts or black leather jackets like Marlon Brando sported in The Wild Ones. And the tattoos—a lot of women had them, which surprised me, and a few of the men were completely covered with tattoos other than their faces! It is well known that employers are little frightened by tattoos so in a way the more extreme rat rodders, with their car as well as their tattoos seemed to be making a statement to society,saying in effect: “I don’t toe the line like you nine-to-fivers. I set my own social values. And screw you if you don’t like the way I or my car looks.”

The extreme rat rods and customs have a “chopped top,” maybe one third to one half of its height taken out so you have to set the seat on the floor in order to see out of the car.

The even more extreme actual rods use prewar bodies (usually ’32-’39 Fords) , where the body seems to sit almost on the ground. This could be an temporary illusion, in that hidden hydraulic pumps can jack the car up to the five inch legal minimum in a second, but I suspect some really don’t have much ground clearance. They just exist defying the law. In fact I think the more extreme a “rat rod” the more laws it violates but that seems to be part of the “in your face” attitude.

The real pre-war looking ones have Ford flathead engines with the engine “soup-up” parts popular in the Fifties like Stromberg 97 carburetors. But most of the ones I saw at Riverside had small block Chevys. The most exotic one I saw had four Weber carburetors—the most exotic looking hot rod engine I’ve seen.

Not all the Rat Rods I saw had fenders. There is an old law in California that says if a car weighs less than 1,500 lbs., it doesn’t require fenders. At least one had faired-fender skirts front and rear, sort of a crude imitation of a Figoni et Falaschi Delahaye circa late 1930s!

As I left the event, I was wondering if I will ever see a gathering of rat rods again; as a group, they seem to be an elusive breed of owners, and though hot rods were seen at Pebble Bach a couple years back, these are much more crude, more “in your face” so don’t count on seeing any rat rods at concours d’elegance soon.

But now I know they are out there; they might even be like cockroaches, in that they could survive WWIII, and after the smoke blows away, you’ll see rat rodders emerge with the first cars running…proving their undying spirit….

[28 Chrysler]

Some of these cars are assembled poorly. One car had plain black pipe for a steering shaft with 1/4" bolts for pins. I have seen conduit hairpins, bugger welds on key parts,and many time front end geometry far off. One rat truck had 1947 Chevy truck head lights mounted to the front axle that were also used as fenders.

[rocketraider]

Long as the thing is done safe to drive I can live with them, but I've seen several I would not travel more than ten feet in. Scary the way some of them are designed and put together.

[Dave@Moon]

George Barris. made cars or hot rods..(They said the same thing about him in the early years - just a guess).

Correct me if I'm wrong, but George Barris never touched a piece of steel in his life that was more than 30 years old, or at the time was even remotely considered rare, valuable, or historic.

That's the difference.

There's nothing wrong with a chopped, purple Ford Fairmont or a canary yellow and white Subaru BRAT. If someone wants to emulate what Barris' artwork was like in his lifetime, that's what they should be making. Remaking the same 1950s Oldsmobile rat rod with increasingly rare and valuable historic pieces that otherwise could be used to preserve a piece of real automotive history is simply not the same thing.

[CarlLaFong]

Barris Kustoms worked on any car that was brought into their shop. It was a business. They chopped the tops on a number of cars that were nearly brand new. The Bob Hirohita Mercury was barely broken in when it was customized. Same with Sam Barris' Merc and Buick, though the Buick was a wreck when Sam bought it. There were countless cars, that were 1-5 years old, that they worked on. The nature of their business sort of dictated using late model iron. They were not, generally, a hot rod shop, which usually favored older stuff.

As far as "in his lifetime", he's still kicking

[Rusty_OToole]

Rat rods started as a reaction to the overdone, over expensive fairground hot rods that were impractical to drive.

One guy put it this way "I had a fibreglass 32 Ford roadster with a blown big block and $20,000 paint job and man, that car just wore me slick with expenses. So I sold it and bought a lil ol' 52 Chevy coupe, rebuilt the motor with twin carburetors and dual exhaust, painted it flat black and covered the seats with Mexican blankets. I drive that car all over the place without a worry in the world, have more fun than anybody, and it cost about 1/10 what the 32 did".

[cahartley]

^ LOL........and probably gets as much attention too.......

Earlier this year I went to this local event >>> http://www.symcoshakedown.com/HOME.html

For ME it was an interesting, one time visit, and I saw a lot of cool cars many of which had not been rodded, some (I can't believe I'm saying this) nicely rodded and some that just boggled the mind.......

[nick8086]

Bump..Not a rat rod but a dog....

[JACK M]

People always refer to this car as a rat rod. It has won many trophies in the rat rod class and alternative rides classes.

It has disc brakes all the way around and drives like a Corvette (C-4 suspension). And the 392 Hemi with a four speed stick will get it right down the road.

However, I have been snubbed by some of the guys that want to build their cars from junk parts. They say that rat rods don't have coil springs, they don't have any billet parts, they don't have any chrome, yadda-yadda-yadda.

But when I drive by them on the freeway I see they cant get much past 40 mph as they are difficult to stop and will shake themselves apart.

With that said, they are having fun as well, so to each his own.

There only has to be one guy that is happy with any given car.

This is the easiest car I ever built and draws the most attention. Fun Stuff.

I have no idea why these come up as images and not thumbnails.

[HistoryBuff]

Jack: Yours is the type of rat rod I think I would like to own because it's engineered safely. I wish I could say the rat rods I saw at the Rockabilly Extravaganza were similarly well engineered but I am not a mechanic and wouldn't know. Suffice to say, I think some of them were congealed assemblages of junk, maybe trailered or flat bedded from nearby to appear as if they were/are roadable and arrived under their own steam. I don't know why they aren't pulled over by the constabulary and all the violations written up--maybe no ticket book has enough pages! But even the ones made of old junk parts are still justifiable to exist as "protest cars" against the wanton overspending displayed on rods built by Chip Foose and his imitators. I remember Terry Cook , once of Petersen Publishing, told me he turned off on hot rods when he saw the winner of the Ridler Award at the Detroit Autorama had over $400,000 invested in it. "And all they had was another '32 Ford," he said. So I can see rat rods being built to be counter to that. But I wouldn't want to drive too far in one of the really edgy ones.

By the way, Cook now builds cars that are vaguely French, Delahaye and Delage inspired but with hot rod roots. He can now sell them for those high prices but at least you're getting a car that looks just right at a cocktail party in Paris...

[earl e rizer]

I guess my Dad and Uncle pre cooled these guys back in the 50's with their "gow jobs" that had primer or what was left of original paint and the only chrome were the "Kustom" acorn nuts on the flatheads. Their cars were built from usually abandoned model T's or what ever was left behind at my Grandpa's garage when the owners gave up on them. The only thing that bugs me about the modern built rats is the lack of concern over basic safety items like brakes ,tires& steering.

[39BuickEight]

I'm no rat-rodder, but I do really enjoy speaking to those that are and listening to them talk about their car. Most have real passion for what they create, and I'm fine with that. It's better than not having them at all, that's for sure.

[JACK M]

I'm no rat-rodder, but I do really enjoy speaking to those that are and listening to them talk about their car. Most have real passion for what they create, and I'm fine with that. It's better than not having them at all, that's for sure.

Better than not having them at all, that's for sure.

The guys that are the most critical drove their wife's Accord to the show.

[39BuickEight]

How does the saying go? "I didn't build it for you." That applies to any car a person has spent time and energy creating/restoring.

[Bhigdog]

When I look at a vehicle what I look for and appreciate is attention to detail, workmanship and overall harmony of design. The average rat rod has little of each. The question was "what is the social commentary" of rat rods. It's simply the desire to stand out from the crowd and the easiest way to do that is to fly in the face of an established norm. With cars it's building a rat rod. With skiing it's wearing the grungiest ugliest clothes on the slope. With some it's skin piercings. So a rat rod is simply the automotive way of saying............ HEY LOOK AT ME! I COUNT! I AM SOMEONE!........... Whatever.................Bob

Edited December 4, 2014 by Bhigdog (see edit history)