"Rat Rods"

I had always thought that people who bought and restored old cars wanted to restore the car to a condition as close as possible to its original factory condition — where everything from the paint job and tires to the knobs on the dashboard would be the same as in the original, and preferably in like-new condition.

How wrong I was!

While I was setting up the Antique Car Site, I found any number of references to “rat rods.” There are a lot of rat rods for sale on eBay. I thought perhaps it was some new term that people were using now to refer to what I always thought of as “hot rods.”

I didn’t look into it at the time. But a few days later, I saw another reference to rat rods somewhere else, and a few days after that, I stumbled across yet another reference to rat rods. It was time to find out what in heck a rat rod is.

It turns out that rat rods are … well, after a fair amount of research, I don’t think there is a standard definition of rat rod, but it’s apparently an unfinished, or partially finished, or badly finished, hot rod. Rat rods are old hot rods or vintage cars that are restored only sufficiently to be driven. There’s no concern for original or authentic parts or trim, and they’re often dotted and splotched with patches of primer — because hey, a car doesn’t need paint to be driven, right?

I’m not sure I see the appeal. I have no desire for a rat rod myself. But I favor the freedom of individuals to own whatever they want and to do with their own property as they wish, so long as they don’t harm others, so I’m wholeheartedly in favor of people buying, selling, and owning rat rods, if that’s that they wish to do.