The Wilkipedia Definition

Tripper said:

They say a picture is worth 1000 words...

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There is a trend in the Rat Rod movement that leans toward overly dramatic, unsafe, and exaggerated vehicles built for nothing more than to display their "Radical" engineering at shows, rarely driving or moving under their own power for more than short distances.

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However, several aspects of the "Rat Rod" style are often criticized by fellow hot-rodders. Most notably is the amount of effort put into some (but not all) of these cars to appear "unsafe and scary", whether this be only cosmetically (Radically chopped, sectioned, or lowered vehicles), which is simply a matter of taste, or in the engineering of the vehicle (Bad welds, inadequate construction/materials, or in braking, steering, and structural components), which is a matter of concern. However most of these "unsafe" vehicles are never inspected, registered, insured, or street driven.

"Traditional" Hot Rodders will often criticize the "exaggeration" of some of the cars constructed following the "Rat Rod" style. Some vehicles or body styles would quite simply have never been used as a Hot Rod in the early days of hot rodding, yet they are passed off as genuine in modern times. Maltese crosses, skulls, and other accessories are often tacked on as a sort of combination of biker, greaser, rock-a-billy, and "Punk" culture continues to shape the fad of Rat Rodding culture.

The most severe criticism, however, is leveled by preservationists against those who transmogrify any rare surviving original, historic and probably-restorable vehicle into an irreversible caricature of itself. Someone has to save these cars, and not all can afford to restore them to original condition. Following the progression of "Rat Rodding" into a fad of sorts, many vehicles are mis-constructed as a simple low budget exaggeration of the traditional vehicles. These will often use truck cabs from the 50s without fenders, "mini-truck" frames from Toyotas, S-10s, and Rangers, and a various array of "accessories" attached to further exaggerate.

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Tripper said:

And remember... some guy's wife had a really good description. She told a co-worker a rat rod was a car her husband made from junk he had laying around the garage! Pretty close!!!

BoB

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