Rat Rods: The Divisive Combination of Originality and Hard Work in Hot-Rodding Culture…
This essay was originally planned to be titled “What Is a Rat Rod and Other Common Hot Rod Questions.” After giving it some thought for about two minutes, I felt the entire rat rod controversy merited a separate article, especially because it allowed me to express my personal viewpoint.
As with most of the terminology used in the hot rodding hobby, the definition of “rat rod” is not precise, and opinions about which cars are and aren’t rat rods is subject to long and passionate debate, right up there with “Was the moon landing real?” and “Can Iron Man beat Captain America?”
Who Invented the Term Rat Rod?
The phrase is a spin-off of “rat bike,” referring to custom motorcycles built on the cheap. The late Gray Baskerville, venerated hot rod writer, is said to have been the first to apply the word to hot rods.
When Did Rat Rods First Appear?
The earliest hot rods were homebuilt. They were rough, low-budget, and, like rat rods, sneered at by other automotive enthusiasts. The difference is that those cars weren’t intentionally built to be fast; many rat rods seem to be purpose built to get a reaction.
David Freiburger places the birth of the modern rat rod trend at about 25 years ago. The popular trend at the time was high-end, high-tech rods with smoothed sheetmetal, modern drivetrains, modern chassis, modern interiors, and tons of billet. Critics of this style objected to the fact that these cars obliterated everything that identified their heritage. The reaction was the resurgence of traditional style hot rods—the extreme wing of that reaction was rat rods.