Rat Rod

A rat rod is a custom car with a deliberately worn, unfinished look, usually unpainted, showing rust, and built from cheap or cast-off parts. Builders sometimes repurpose things that never belonged on a car, like a rifle as a gear shifter, wrenches as door handles, or hand saws as sun visors. The term also covers hot rods that loosely imitate or exaggerate the early hot rods of the mid-20th century.

Rat rods started as a reaction to expensive show customs that were rarely driven. The typical one is a late-1920s to late-1950s coupe or roadster, sometimes a truck or sedan, often with the body channeled over the frame, sectioned, or with the roof chopped for a lower profile. Biker, greaser, rockabilly, psychobilly, and punk culture are often cited as influences, and the owner usually does most or all of the work.

The December 1972 issue of Rod & Custom was devoted to the "beater," a low-budget car with primer instead of paint that's often called a forerunner. Who coined "rat rod" is disputed, but the term is credited to Anthony Casteneda of the Shifters So. Cal. car club, who thought of it in the early 1990s around a Rod & Custom interview, comparing the club's unpainted hot rods to the rat bikes of the time. The term has also drawn criticism when it gets applied to any car that just looks unfinished.