How to Learn the History of Rat Rods

If you've ever seen the movie American Graffiti, you may understand the concept of a "rat rod." At the end of that movie, two teens drag race. They were driving "hot rods" as they were called in the 1950s. The rat rod movement is related to hot rod history in many ways.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

1. Recognize that the recent "rat rod" trend grew out of the original hot rods but also out of hot rods as they currently exist.

2. Go to a car show today and you will see baby boomers displaying their recreated versions of American hot rods. It can cost tens of thousands of dollars to create a car that's an upscale replica, for example, of the car in "Grease."

3. Be aware that the rat rod movement grew in response, in part, to these "super-rods" being created for status and nostalgia.

4. Know that builders of rat rods build them from different parts from different cars. Unlike the "super-rods," however, rat rod owners drive their cars and create their own history.

5. Picture a car that has the body of a 1930s Ford and the engine of a 1950s Cadillac to merge the history of two different decades. Picture an engine that's visible.

6. Envision that the paint is a dull gray or black or even the original paint job that is now rusted.

7. Imagine a couple of guys working in their garage, hefting an engine and a frame and creating a car almost from scratch. Now you have some idea of what a rat rod is and how it is created.

8. Understand that rat rods are growing in popularity and respect, there is a whole industry now popping up around rat rods in the form of magazines and car shows. Car clubs already exist where members get together and help each other find classic car parts and build their rods.

9. Keep your eye out on the road. You just might see a rat rod in your own neighborhood.

Resources

• Visit signonsandiego.com to read an article on the growing popularity of rat rods.
• Streetrodderweb.com provides pictures of street rods-the antithesis of rat rods.