[pasadenahotrod]

How come those rats that are built from stuff lying around and unwanted alway seem to have an "oddball" engine or even a fairly common engines covered up with the rarest of polished and chromed accessories and rare OHV conversions and rare manifolding and carburation or superchargers hooked up to Cad-LaSalle transmissions and rare quickchange axle assemblies.
Yeah, that stuff was lying around some collector's shelf until a very large stack of $$$ or the equivalent changed hands. These poor guys have to work so hard to get their 40s and 50s teenage dream cars put together with just-the-right parts from the most expensive and extensive speed parts collections in the country or the world.
Not that there's anything wrong with that. Don't you know those old guys who lived it at 25cents an hour at the local grocery store or gas station are wondering who these jokers are emulating...'cause it sure isn't the typical run what you brung young rodder of days gone by!

[OneMoreTime]

I have wondered that myself as those certainly are not like the cars we were building 40 years ago...It was hard then to come up with some of that stuff..

Sam

[Hippie]

I think somewhere along the line the "rat rods" have deviated from the original concept. Some of them are pretty cool but a lot of them look more like some type of "Bizarro Rod" out of an old Superman comic. They're trying to out do each other on how outlandish they can get. I built models like that back in the 60's out of left over kit parts and the sprue trees....... and then put fircrackers in them.

[tfeverfred]

LOL Yea, some do have some pretty fancy stuff. My UPS guy asked me if I was building a rat or traditional rod. I told him traditional. In the tradition of not having a lot of money and using what I can. Like a catalog and a phone when I need it. I'm sure the guys in the old days would have done the same if they could have. Finding stuff to use is great, but when that fails, it's good to have a back up and I have no regrets.

[GearJamminHero]

Is this not the hardcore/crazys who are building "era-specific" 50's/60's rods? I understand why these guys do this stuff this way, but personally I wouldn't try and ice skate up hill as much.

[tfeverfred]

Originally Posted by GearJamminHero

Is this not the hardcore/crazys who are building "era-specific" 50's/60's rods? I understand why these guys do this stuff this way, but personally I wouldn't try and ice skate up hill as much.

I think it may have started out that way, but in a quest to out do one another and through misunderstanding and media hype it has evolved or mutated into what is now. I don't even think the rat rod "purist" have an idea what one is now.

And now we have the next phase:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nItFK8B4L3g

[Hippie]

Originally Posted by tfeverfred

And now we have the next phase:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nItFK8B4L3g

If that's the next "big thing" then I was 40 years ahead of the game!

[BoneHeadCustomz]

My guess is they, (we) can afford to buy all those cool motor parts because we saved so much money on paint and wax.

[thrash]

you can pay 2+ grand for a nice body, or 200 for a crappy one. plus no hood/fenders. you save alot of money.

[Rrumbler]

And now we have the next phase:

If that's the next "big thing" then I was 40 years ahead of the game!

Hah! Yeah, that's sort of where I started, back in the late forties and early fifties; first, roller skates, coaster wagons - one with the engine from my Dad's new lawn mower - then bikes, and on to infinity. A pal and I collected a few odd frames, wheels, seats, and other parts, and made a "fully articulated three rider tandem"; it was a hoot to try to keep it going in a straight line without one or another of us trying to get us all wrecked - all it took was one little bobble from one rider, and it was all over.