The way I feel about rat rods

I seen this over on Carter County Cruisers web site. John's always finding cool stuff like this. When they talk about the rat rod thing it hit it head on with what I think. I think the term has out grown what it once was but I still don't care for what I consider the true rat rod scene.

http://vimeo.com/20668145

If you get a chance pop in on the CCC forum and check it out. Great group of guys that has always backed us up with the stuff we do.
http://www.cartercountycruisers.com/forums/index.php

RebStew wrote:When they talk about the rat rod thing it hit it head on with what I think. I think the term has out grown what it once was but I still don't care for what I consider the true rat rod scene.

It seems like the terminology has shifted in popular society.

Hot Rods are now reserved for the trailer queens and those few that are driven on the street that could be considered a "trailer queen"... those with all the body work complete and nice paint... flames in some fashion are almost a must.

Rat Rods are every thing else now. Before R.R. seemed to be reserved for how the guy in the video put it, "these guys are trying to build cars on purpose, as ruff as they can. They'll take a decent car, sand it down and leave it rusty."

Now the Rat Rod term gets put on anything that's ruff... or doesn't have "perfect paint" on it or has the flat black paint. If we were to ask the average, non car person on the street about all the cars in the Scroungers car club, most would get classified as rat rods. Some might even mix the term with a rat rod muscle car. The rat rod term seems to get put on anything like a 32 Ford running without a hood and fenders, rusty or flat black.

Now a days it seems like you have to graduate from Rat Rod to Hot Rod. You can have an very safe car with everything under the body fixed up. But if the body is orginal, with ruff paint...or a great patina...or some rusty fenders that you've put off fixing... you've got yourself a rat rod. Once you up grade that body to something other than rust or flat black, well now it's a Hot Rod... maybe

To me, it really doesn't matter what term someone else applies to a car. Rat Rod is the term de jure. For the person that doesn't know any better, when someone has a "Rat Rod" for sale, it makes it worth more money than just saying it's a project car that needs to be finished. A rose by any other name, right? Or even a Ray by any other name.