LarryH
Member
Here's a good article about the Shifters CC explaining how the term "rat rod" originated and what it has evolved (unelvolved?) into.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/?p=5305
"JJ: It’s fashionable these days to look down at “Rat Rods.” By your own admission, you guys invented the term. Did the definition of “rat rod” change over the years or did you guys?
Anthony: I think it was a little of both, but yes it definitely changed over the years. The term “rat rod” was just my way of trying to describe our cars to an outsider who had some knowledge of hot rods and motorcycles. Most people back then knew of “rat bikes” and i associated our cars more with them rather than the 1990’s billet Street Rod scene of the time. I always thought of our cars as just unfinished traditional hot rods… which they were. So it wasn’t a name we were really serious about, but it stuck after several magazine articles used the term when featuring our stuff. It was kind of cool at first because it gave the old guys a way of identifying us at car shows and swap meets, but after a while and as the scene grew, everything that wasn’t finished or in primer became a “rat rod” by the media. It was lame and not something we really wanted to be associated with anymore.
Then a few years later came the real junk rods. Rolling piles of crap that are purposely built to look like shit - something we’ve never liked or understood. Things like 1950 fenderless trucks with suicide suspensions 50 feet in front of the grill and stock 305 Chevy engines with a two barrel carb and zoomie headers - stuff like that just make us scratch our heads. We think a lot of people just got the wrong idea somewhere and we hope most of these cars will just go away someday. Of course, they probably won’t. I think it’s good that they are looked down upon in some ways because they really don’t belong with the rest of us who are working hard to to build quality traditional cars. Obviously, people have a right to build what ever they want but it’s just gotten out of hand.
A real “rat rod” to us is a raw, unfinished, traditional hot rod with all the right ingredients! Now in today’s world we have magazines (will go unamed) catering to nonsense cars, switchblades, iron crosses, women with tattoo’s on their foreheads, diesel truck big rig wheels & tires, and they think its old school? We just don’t get it. Hate to say it but the word “rat rod” is ruined now and should probably go away."
Now it seems any primered car is a rat rod. A few weeks ago i decided to redo the exhaust on my '56 Chevy more door, and since nothin' sounds much cooler than a stovebolt runnin' dual glass packs, i decided to put a Fenton header on it and dual glass packs with 2" pencil tips. I'm explaining to the muffler guy my plans for the '56, "It's gonna be gray primer with a candy blue top with gold 'flake and blue and white tuck n' roll." "Oh. You're building it rat rod style? I just smiled and explained "No. I'm building it in an early sixties style".
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/?p=5305
"JJ: It’s fashionable these days to look down at “Rat Rods.” By your own admission, you guys invented the term. Did the definition of “rat rod” change over the years or did you guys?
Anthony: I think it was a little of both, but yes it definitely changed over the years. The term “rat rod” was just my way of trying to describe our cars to an outsider who had some knowledge of hot rods and motorcycles. Most people back then knew of “rat bikes” and i associated our cars more with them rather than the 1990’s billet Street Rod scene of the time. I always thought of our cars as just unfinished traditional hot rods… which they were. So it wasn’t a name we were really serious about, but it stuck after several magazine articles used the term when featuring our stuff. It was kind of cool at first because it gave the old guys a way of identifying us at car shows and swap meets, but after a while and as the scene grew, everything that wasn’t finished or in primer became a “rat rod” by the media. It was lame and not something we really wanted to be associated with anymore.
Then a few years later came the real junk rods. Rolling piles of crap that are purposely built to look like shit - something we’ve never liked or understood. Things like 1950 fenderless trucks with suicide suspensions 50 feet in front of the grill and stock 305 Chevy engines with a two barrel carb and zoomie headers - stuff like that just make us scratch our heads. We think a lot of people just got the wrong idea somewhere and we hope most of these cars will just go away someday. Of course, they probably won’t. I think it’s good that they are looked down upon in some ways because they really don’t belong with the rest of us who are working hard to to build quality traditional cars. Obviously, people have a right to build what ever they want but it’s just gotten out of hand.
A real “rat rod” to us is a raw, unfinished, traditional hot rod with all the right ingredients! Now in today’s world we have magazines (will go unamed) catering to nonsense cars, switchblades, iron crosses, women with tattoo’s on their foreheads, diesel truck big rig wheels & tires, and they think its old school? We just don’t get it. Hate to say it but the word “rat rod” is ruined now and should probably go away."
Now it seems any primered car is a rat rod. A few weeks ago i decided to redo the exhaust on my '56 Chevy more door, and since nothin' sounds much cooler than a stovebolt runnin' dual glass packs, i decided to put a Fenton header on it and dual glass packs with 2" pencil tips. I'm explaining to the muffler guy my plans for the '56, "It's gonna be gray primer with a candy blue top with gold 'flake and blue and white tuck n' roll." "Oh. You're building it rat rod style? I just smiled and explained "No. I'm building it in an early sixties style".
