Rat Rod Love

You may be thinking that the above photo is a hot rod from days gone by.....

..... but it's actually one of my husbands latest projects. This type of vehicle is known as a 'Rat Rod'.

The definition of a 'Rat Rod' per Wikipedia is:

"A rat rod is a style of hot rod or custom car that, in most cases, imitates (or exaggerates) the early hot rods of the 40s, 50s & early 60s. It is not to be confused with the somewhat closely related "traditional" hot rod, which is an accurate re-creation or period-correct restoration of a hot rod from the same era.

Most rat rods appear "unfinished", whether they actually are or not, with just the bare essentials to be driven.

The rat rod is the visualization of the idea of function over form. Rat rods are meant to be driven, not shown off. Sometimes the customization will include using spare parts, parts from another car altogether, or even non-car parts."



For this project, my husband started with a '31 Hudson Coupe found in a farmers field. An electric fence was running through it, so he needed to dismantle the fence in order to get the car out.

In keeping with the 'Rat Rod' theme, an assortment of parts were used in the construction of this car.  These tail lights are from a '37 Chrysler.

The no-frills interior includes a set of vintage 60's corvette seats and a simple, uncluttered dashboard from a Ford. The newly constructed diamond plate floor boards were made to look old.

 The doors have a lovely rusted patina that continue the 'bare essentials' theme.

With the car being made from so many different parts, it reminds me of the Johnny Cash song 'One Piece At A Time'.

My oh-so-clever husband also had to custom make several of the parts himself. Sadly, many of the older car parts are no longer available.

The best part of this car is that is was made for driving!

It's so fun to see the smiles on peoples faces as we pass them by.

The directional switch is from a '47 Ford Pickup. The ignition is from one of hubby's old trucks from the 60's.

Old school air conditioning at it's best!

Don't let the mud splatter bother you - it just adds to the character.



Can you see the hole in the door?

That would be a bullet hole which passes clean through the car. One can only imagine how it got there - perhaps a Bonnie and Clyde story from its previous life or the remnants of a day of target practice - one will never know. 

Hope you have enjoyed my husband's 'Rat Rod'. We sure do. Have to go now, as we are going for a ride....



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