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I saw that VW Rat-Rod several years ago and found it to be such an excellent example of what such a car should be that it redefined the species for me.
You know, to me, Rat-Rods are kind of like p0rn…difficult to define but you sure know what it is when you see it.
I get more people at gas stations telling me I should "rat rod" my Chrysler than people asking if it's an Edsel
And people think it's an Edsel far too much.
I'm not against the rat rod scene at all but I do think it is strange, not necessarily bad strange, when I see glassfibre kit cars, like the '33 Vicky kit, painted to look all rusted. Hot Rod magazine featured one a couple years back.
I don't get how you'd actually drive one of these:
My Miata has respectable ground clearance, only lowered 1.5" from stock and it drags on some speed bumps and at least one rail road crossing in town.
^^^ Your should "rat rod" that Edsel ^^^
Carson wrote: I'm not against the rat rod scene at all but I do think it is strange, not necessarily bad strange, when I see glassfibre kit cars, like the '33 Vicky kit, painted to look all rusted. Hot Rod magazine featured one a couple years back.
I have to agree with this one. My idea of a rat rod is taking a clapped out piece of crap and making it cool/fast/whatever, not taking a hot rod and making it look like a clapped out piece of crap. Andy Nelson's Bug and John Haas' Chevy were very good examples in my opinion.
Yup. I like the rodders who rescue junk right nobody wants--'it's too far gone'-- and make something out of it. That's cool. Of course, invariably somebody will come along and say "how could you do that to a classic?"
Oh i get it Salianas, automotive stereotypes. Come to think of it, this board pushes the miata agenda pretty hard.
You might be confusing traditional hotrods and rat rods. Ratrods are poorly built, dangerous pieces of crap. We like to call them Shock Rods. Built only to draw crowds and scare old ladies. If you just take a cast off heap, rescue it, and make it fast, well you've built a hotrod inthe traditional sense. This site can be uppity at times, but there are many, many craftsmen there that have forgotten more than I'll ever learn. They don't really tolerate the "were in it for the music and tatoos" stuff you'll find with Ol' Skool Rodz. It's called the HAMB, and its part of the Jalopy Journal.
seann wrote:Come to think of it, this board pushes the miata agenda pretty hard.
In further news... the NRA thinks people should own guns.
Here's that glassfibre car from Hot Rod:
I came across this on eBay and I dreamed of owning it and driving it as is. Maybe do a little to it in the name of safety, like floorboards, etc.
Then the thing sold for $14,750
I do like a beater with grunt.
The Halloween-costume rat rod crowd drives me nuts. If rodders in the Fifties didn't paint a car, it wasn't because they thought primer was cool; it was because they spent all their money on the motor, juice brakes and other real parts and had no cash left over. Bettie Page looks downright tame compared to some of the tatted-up lizard girls riding Vespas, and to the guys with greasy DA haircuts and a pack of Luckies tight-rolled in a shirt sleeve, I can only say: really? This is what you think "real" hot rodders are like?
I don't know much about the "rat rod" scene, but I do ride a "rat bike" buell blast. For me it means spending as little time on cosmetics and stuff like that that you can to remain legal while performing small modifications to improve performance. Oh, and when you crash the thing a few times and piece it back with whatever is laying around. For instance, I cannot see anything in my mirrors b/c the bike vibrates so much so leave them off. The turn signal was saved by using old volvo parts. When I crashed the thing last time I bent the front rim and forks. Damn I'm out 180$ for the forks and 120$ for the rim, but my pops has a hundred thousand pound press at work. 15,000 pounds later my tire holds air and the forks are straight enough. The front rim took a whole 1oz. to balance, but oh well. I'd go into deferring maintenance, but that's another story.
A real rat rodder won't give a damn about what some greasy headed punk thinks about their ride. The only problem I see in the M3 engine is it isn't loud enough to rattle window like a rat but maybe you can tune the exhaust.
Good luck!
I don't know about any of the bickering and hating.
But I personally think rat rods are cool as hell, and I'd like to build one to go along with the E30.
Maybe even an E30 rat rod.
Rats are already going the way the billet-custom trailer queens went over the last 10-15 years. It will be a rich man's hobby soon enough. Do what you want and forget about the conforming non-conformists.
The first thing I did when I bought my new boots was crash my bike and take the leather off the steel toe, luckily it wasn't my toe. That is so lame to want your car to look rats. Rats is not a choice, you do it b/c you have to. My bike/car wouldn't be rats if I had lots of money, but then where's the fun in that. If my bike ever gives up the ghost it's gonna be replaced with a 1000$ craigslist special.
Tom Heath wrote: I wasn't really responding to your post, but some of the comments that came in later; things likeslantvaliant said:I worry about people who put too much style in their lives.
Funny, I thought my post expressed a lot of tolerance. I DO worry about people sometimes, but that's hardly judging them.
I mean, come on! I drive a pretty ratty '64 Valiant! One HAS to understand passion to do that. 
Duke wrote: Rats are already going the way the billet-custom trailer queens went over the last 10-15 years. It will be a rich man's hobby soon enough. Do what you want and forget about the conforming non-conformists.
Going by the rat rodders at the last car show I went to, it already is.
Carson wrote:I don't get how you'd actually drive one of these:
On the trailer and off the trailer. Plenty of 2x12s for ramps. Position trailer around the corner of the street so your "friends" dont see and think you are a poser.
As far as the rat bike, my good friend said to me while I was hacking on my old Ninja, "Its not a DSM, its not okay if parts fall off." Sketchy bike mods are a no-no in my book, be safe out there.
http://www.oddballkustoms.com/?p=124#more-124
Wow, check out his helmet stickers...
Just because these guys can build sweet cars, doesn't mean they are any less of douchey than the rest of the crowd.
Maybe the poor front brakes on these things will help weed out the idiots.
Joey
Just get me started on bikers, totally gay and lame. You drop 40K on a bike that is bored, stroked, polished, and chromed, and you know what, you are still a punk! Especially chopping the frames. I know rat rodders chop the bodies to make cool lines though. The deal I see with rat rodders is saving an otherwise wasted body shell, slapping it on a chassis add a fast engine and there you go.
If it's rats and on a trailer it's being brought to the scrap yard!
From a guy that goes to quite a few hot rod shows, it is pretty stupid what some of the of the guys drive and think its cool cause its "ratty." I have heard of and seen some pretty sketchy stuff. Think steering linkage made of electrical conduit.
Some of them are pretty cool with the level of fabrication and ingenuity. And then some of them just try to be way to weird.
Here is my dads car, 28 ford roadster pickup, without the bed. 32 rails, with a Ford zetec with ITB...
I always wanted a 50s or early 60's Caddy (not the squared off ones) to paint the wheel red, cut the springs, and make really loud.
Just for M3's and giggles.
It's not really a rat rod, nor is it a hot rod. It wouldnt be fast, just way cooler than a bone stock caddy.
Chances of me finding an example for as cheap as I want...slim.
All in all, poop, I gotta say I find this whole thread rather surprising, I mean honestly, anyone that has met you knows what a pretty-boy slave to fashion you are and that you follow tends like a seagulls after a chumming fishing boat.
Carson wrote:I get more people at gas stations telling me I should "rat rod" my Chrysler than people asking if it's an Edsel
Anyone who thinks you should put primer that rolling piece of art should have their arse-whole turned inside out.
I find as I get older I am developing an apprecaition for things that I would have dismissed in my 20's. While shopping for a winter beater I found an old Ford Fairlane with a 6 cylinder and 3 speed on the collum. I wanted it, and had no plans to modify anything, I just liked it. Fortunely, I was not the only one, another guy bought it.
The import mellon baller crowd has their place, the greasers have another, the Boyd Coddington checkbook builders have a place as do the anal retentive 100 piont resto folks. We find the whole thing appauling not just becuase we tend to be results oriented (faster time, shorter braking etc) but becuase we can look at another vehicle that may not be our partiicular brand of fun, but admire the work, the results and the future possibilty and say "Cool."
I think thats my favorite part of the Challenge, is the parking lot. Any compliment from another particpant seems to bring real pride to the creator., as it should.
To be quite selfish Poop, I'd love to see you build a rat rod, hotrod, Hongrod whatever. Just becuase I'd love to see it, steal some ideas for projects I'll never complete. In the end it would probaly fall well within what we all consider to be cool
http://www.gasmonkeygarage.com/
Click on "Our Rides" and check out the '31 Pancake. You think driving a 914 in traffic is intimidating?
Dan
Mental wrote:The import mellon baller crowd has their place, the greasers have another, the Boyd Coddington checkbook builders have a place as do the anal retentive 100 piont resto folks. We find the whole thing appauling not just becuase we tend to be results oriented
Actually, while all the things you have listed are not really my cup of tea, I can appreciate the coolness of almost anything.
What galls me is the inherent hypocrisy of spending $5,000 to make something look like you paid $500 for it.
I see more "non traditional" rat rods than I do of what is more commonly accepted for the term... I think its the spirit of the project that should define it.
for me, i want one like this.... except id like to have a windsheild at least.. 
