Koda

My ebay parts search has over 50% show up with RAT ROD in the parts description. I don't know when a rusted up, cobbled together basket case became anything other than a heap, but apparently strapping more parts together than an AMC and making it rust more than a Mopar is now cool.

A show car with bad paint says that you're either too lazy or broke to get it repainted. People drive around in high school with busted up cars not because they're James Deans, but because they're poor and the cars are cheap.

Put the right parts, of the right year, on the right brand of cars, get a paint job, and, while you're at it, can the doo wop and kick the crying dolls off the bumper. The car show world will be a better place.

Sorry, lack of sleep, along with general grumpiness, motivated this post.
-Koda.

RonFX

Hey:
Amen, Brother
Ron

plonka

It's not so much Rat Rods themselves as it is the freakin Ebay thing. I search 76 Cutlass and get 80% rat rod and gas station tin signs. Pisses me off!

slantflat

I must be grumpy and sleepy all the time, because I agree with you whole-heartedly.

dancutlass

Makes me want to apologize for not being able to afford a paint job at the moment...

Koda

Eh, you're forgiven. Bonus points for having a correct car in Germany. How's it do on the autobahn?

lshlsh2

Someone asked me if I was going for a rat-rod look. I said no it is a D-I-C look.(Daughter in College). It will get done someday but right now it is trendy I guess.

Larry

dancutlass

Thanks, actually it performs great on the Autobahn, I only get scared when driving 110mph or more though, so I have to slow it down a little!

droptopron

when you search put "-rat" in your search

slantflat

The only problem with that, Ron, is that it omits every listing that has rat in it. So something you might want to see could be left out because the guy put in a bunch of "keywords." I find the same thing on craigslist.

m371961

I have nothing against somebody that can't afford it building a jalopy with oddball parts to get a street rod, but clearcoating over rust or painting to make it look old is like building a new cabinet or table then beating it up to make it look old.

joe_padavano

As noted, the problem is the ever-more-dumbed-down ebay search capabilities, coupled with ebay how-to information that ENCOURAGES sellers to add unrelated words to ads to increase sales potential.

oldcutlass

Some cars do look nice set up as a so called Rat Rod, say from the 40's back. But others seriously do not.

jag1886

A well done Rat Rod is cool. But most are just piles of crap.

marxjunk

im sick of them too....very few are neat anymore...

but...they where originally built to stick it to the billet 32 ford dorks and so on....they wanted to be able to have car without going broke..like anything else..its run its course...

z11375ss

I hated this as soon as it touched ground. I don't understand not finishing a car on purpose. It must a droopy pants kind of thing I'll never grasp. This is not a generational thing where your Dad didn't understand the music or thought it sounded all the same, and damn that Elvis guy. It is just crap. It may run good, but it looks like crap.

m371961

The original rat rods were built in late 40s or 50s. Some youngster would get a 30s car, only car he could afford, then just add go fast engines and parts of the time. ie, ford flatheads, straight 8s, nailheads etc, not using money for the pretty stuff. Then he could go out and outrun the rich kids or the ones in Daddys' car.

ziff396

That is what the rat rod was originally. Mainly 30s and 40s cars. Somehow, everything went from original cool to whatever you can piece together no matter what the year and call it one. Not the same.

Sampson

It really takes all kinds in this world! Rat rods kinda started the hot rod hobby. I've got nothin against a guy enjoying the hobby with whatever he can put together. Like someone above said some are cool some not so much. The technology thing with the search engines is a whole different issue to me. Deep down we are all car guys and variety is the spice of life. How boring is its it to go to an all corvette show!

47 Convertible

__________________________________________________ ____
Amen to that Joe. I am sick and tired of looking for 46-48 Oldsmobile parts and having to sort through chrome mirrors, chrome headlight eyebrows, endless listings of 6V headlight bulbs and on and on and on...Stuff that could fit anything. I've even run into stuff for much newer Oldsmobiles that says "Fits 47 Oldsmobile" B.S. It never did and never will. eBay needs a category that it titled "Chrome Crap that fits Everything" and, 6 or 12 V. bulbs that will fit darn near anything need to be listed as auto bulbs, not Oldsmobile Parts.
Thanks for opening my Rant Floodgate. I'm giving eBay four "Mad as Hell" badges
Jerry
ps. I always look on Classic Olds first. I know my local pic-n-pulls so well that I know they don't have those few parts I still need for my 47.

m371961

If the only way someone can afford a street rod is building a rat rod, OK. But, a rat rod with a crate engine, ugh.

seansolds

I get disappointed with the amount of these rats on the road and the more to come..I think I've just about seen it all, slammed on ground, interior made of license plates, Budweiser cans made to be velocity stacks. Shift handles dam near scrapes the roof when shifting..I was hoping this fad was going to be forgotten by now..and the price tags people will put on their cluster gaggles is beyond me..it's one thing to use budget to make a classic work its another to weld a hub cap and call it a grill..I can't agree more about the doo wop. We have a annual Chevy Vette fest that happens every August in northwest Indiana and seems they replay the same songs again every year for the last 15 years..I grew up listening to Dick Biandi playing the oldies since I was probably in the 7th grade back in 82..I'm used to hearing Del Shannon's Runaway and 409 which are cool and great but there are another generation for 70s rock era such as myself..I can also agree when I see a crying kid on a bumper I want to kick it and stomp it like a flaming bag of poop... How about welding up that hole with some metal, find a body line in a can of bondo and put some paint on it..

69ishHoliday

I don't get it and have no desire to see one, build one, buy one, or ever ever ride in one.

tru-blue 442

X2!

Koda

I'm glad to see my opinion wasn't out of line. I was just frustrated at the search engine, but, deep down, I hate bad customization of vehicles. Old cars are a finite resource, and to see them ruined hurts. Good customization is an art form, but most people think they can "out-design Detroit" and it's just bad.

Of course, I may have "stock fever" too much, so maybe I'm not the best judge. I like my cars being 100% correct, and being 100% correct with rare options and such is even better. It's almost like your car is a rolling educational tool at that point.

47 Convertible

A lot of people who set out to modify cars forget that the end product speaks volumes about you. If you turn out an eyesore, or an unsafe car....well, it just defines you. I don't wish to be seen as the guy who builds the same thing a cow can drop in a pasture with just a lift of her tail. Modifications done right can enhance performance, driveability and even the looks of older cars not to mention the fun factor.

m371961

Oh , it is a shame to make a rat rad from a car that has options and is worth a frame off if needed. But if it is a parts car that someone tastfully welds in floor pans, body mounts, makes safe, and repowers with a period correct or previous engine, at least it stays out there. My big car should have a frame off, but it will be safe, period correct, (to an extent) and kept out there for the next guy.
My .02, and we all got opinions.

coppercutlass

Im all for getting a car on the road and using . But I hate AND I cant stress it enough I hate when guys out work on these cars and leave it with a rough body for the patina look or they do ridiculous things to make it look "ratty" I think a rat rod should be a work in progress but not but not a definition for a style of finished car. I hate how these guys are also saying it's a throw back. Look back then even guys finished them and they didn't look nearly half as bad as some these so called rat rods out on the road. Im a body man by trade I always loved the primer look well before it was cool The only reason I paited it was to show the quality of my work and because it would have been called a rat rod if I left it in primer . I hate the crowd of those people too. UGHHHHHHHHHHHHh we have way too many in Chicago it's like high school all over again these people try toooooooo hard to be in to a click so to speak.

I almost left it in primer too

Koda

Yeah, no issues with works in progress here. Time and money and effort are limited resources. For full disclosure, my 67 is in basecoat only from the previous owner. However, it is awaiting restoration, hopefully next year, and, for now, I take my old Chevrolet to shows.

Sampson

To me The Rat Rod thing only works on pre war cars. When you try to achieve that look on 50's and above they look like beaters.

oldcutlass

I had many a car back in high school that were primered. We couldn't afford a paint job and the cost would take money away from "go fast" equipment. A lot of us kids didn't have parents that would take us out and buy us a new/er car. So we made due with what we could scrounge and built our cars from junk yards. We had street sign floors riveted or screwed in place, no carpet, mismatched seats, and sheet metal door panels. I guess our junk would have been considered Rat Rods back in the 70's.

Boldsmobile

I think they are fine. I see a persons car like the inside of their house or their clothes or tattoos.

Personal expression, because my tastes don't match I don't hate theirs. I appreciate difference. It makes the world interesting.


I don't see it as anything to get worked up about.

z11375ss

That's different though. You did that because of finances or lack thereof. I did it too. These new guys do it on purpose! Ack!

Koda

I view it differently from a tattoo, or clothes, or home furnishings. That 19XX Brand Y Model Z sitting there is 1 of however many that are left. To purposefully spend money to make it look bad, compared to spending often less money to make it look good, is a shame and a waste of a good car. Even in today's "anything goes" society, I think one can still look down upon a waste.

Beaters are something different. I once got all 4 wheels off the ground with an 85 Z28 and managed to drop my Coke through the floorboard with the same bump. That's talent.

69ishHoliday

My friends and I had some of the same but they were never purposely crappy. One of my friends put his paint job on without a regulator and he depended on us plugging in & unplugging the air compressor to keep him at around 35 psi at the paint gun. We laughed at ourselves the whole time.

coppercutlass

U sure that wasn't the paint fumes getting to ya lol.

z11375ss

Funny story! Yep, that's talent. You can't teach that nor would you want to!

nsnarsk65cutlass

I agree, to build something that is intended to look like crap and is built well but not finished.It doesn't make sense to me i don't understand it.

Boldsmobile

The conclusion I draw from that statement is that all car owners should agree with your definition of good.

Its a form of personal expression, just like a tattoo.

coppercutlass

I think its a generalization . I don't have tattoos I don't like em on me I think they look cool and you can usually tell what was made with a home made machine and what was done by a pro. It's really no different. The nail go hit on the head when someone said that they purposely do it. It's not like they got that old model a out from a barn with a beer tap shifter talled than the roof and with license plate floor boards.