Tire Tracks: Set the Rat Traps

Hot rodders like Boyd Coddington and Chip Foose have been instrumental in bringing these cars into the mainstream, but their popularity has given rise to a new trend now unapologetically taking over the hot rod underground.  Patina Rat Rods are here, and they are rusty, cobbled together and unpolished... and I wouldn’t change a thing.

For years, hot rodding was about being a backyard mechanic, and admission to the club required that you turned your own wrenches.  As hot rods became more popular, however, shops like those you see on television starting building cars for anyone who could write a check big enough.  Now, I see nothing wrong with anyone buying a turn-key hot rod, but these men are not hot rodders.  So, people started building cars that rich guys would never want. 

Rat rods were born in barns and greasy garages, slapped together using whatever parts happen to be lying around.  Creativity and resourcefulness in scavenging parts are rewarded as beer kegs are used for fuel tanks and Budweiser cans serve as the radiator overflow tank.  Exhaust headers are fabricated from welding jagged tubes found underneath the water heater.  Exhaust systems are unnecessary and mufflers mean you got it wrong.  Starting alone should be able to set off the alarm on your neighbor’s Audi.  Chrome is forsaken for rust.  Rat rodders laugh in the face of tetanus.

The best rat rods are the ones that are mechanically reliable; just because your hot rod looks like it was dredged from the bottom of a lake doesn’t mean you want to be stuck on the side of the highway.  Hot rods have long revolved around skull-crushing V8 power and rat rods are no different.  Just don’t go and drop a $15,000 crate motor between the frame rails and expect to get respect on the street.  That’s really the beauty of these machines:  it’s completely reasonable to build one for around $10,000.  And since they are devoid of all the bells and whistles that make for creature comfort, these light hot rods can outrun cars costing more than your annual salary.  Imagine pulling up to a Ferrari at a stoplight and dropping the hammer on an unsuspecting balding stockbroker.  Sure, he’ll leave you for dead on a racecourse, but on your average American street he just might get embarrassed by a car that wouldn’t appear out of place in the junkyard.

Rat rods can start their life as just about any car, from Bucket Ts to mid-50s Gassers.  I’ve even seen a couple VW beetles -- which make great wheel-standing drag cars -- embrace the culture, most notably through a car built by Jesse James called SourKraut.  And, unfortunately, I have already seen a couple hot rods with fake rust paint to capture the look.  So, I guess rat rods are destined for the same mainstream appeal that regular hot rods have enjoyed.  And that’s also the beauty of it:  we’ll just have to wait and see what the hot rodders roll out of their garages next.