It's either a Hot Rod, or a Custom. /end debate

[PL Team]

HOT ROD - Finished, raw, and performance focused.

CUSTOM - Finished, pristine, and aesthetics focused.

PROJECT - Unfinished...


Kill the term Rat Rod already before the industry is saturated with subgenres like music!

[Bill-E-BoB]

Every time I see this debate, I really have no clue what category I should put my car in. It's finished as in complete the way I want it, and it's finished as in painted...though the paint is flat. I don't think it can be called a project.

It's a '55 Caddy 4-door, the thing is giant so no matter what I do to the stock 331...it's not a fast car. When I wrench on it, it's to rebuild a water pump or replace a blown power steering hose, it's not to shave a second off my quarter mile time. She's a Cadillac, what's the hurry? The interior is stripped down to seats & bare metal, but protected & sealed so as not to rust. The paint is 2-tone with single stage black with a flattening agent to capture the look without being porous like primer on most of the body & the roof is house of kolor aztec gold metallic with a green apple candy over it. It's hand pin striped. Most people refer to it as a rat rod because the paint is flat, and I tend not to argue, but there is no rust and it's 100% mechanically sound, so that term doesn't really fit either.

There's no billet or expensive modern technology to be found, so it's no street rod. Harley Earl already put the sexiest fins & dagmars in existence on the 55 caddy, so there's no need to modify the body, so it's not really a custom either.

I mean, it's finished in my eyes, it's pristine to many, and it's certainly not stock...so I guess custom is the closest fit. But then, calling it a hot rod seems just as fitting until you start over-thinking things. So, basically, I just call her Black Betty, I call her my Caddy. What do y'all think? You can see pictures on my profile if that helps you get an idea.

[Didi De La Rosa]

hmmm, I would say between restored and kustom. I dunno, im no expert. Im just a girl who loves the the sweet purr or a car or bike well loved. Here in El Paso we have, Ranflas: anything... really, anything. any car at all. Bombitas: or bombs, finished, kustom, restored, anything pre 64ish. and; Lowriders: or Lowlows, pretty much post '64ish, dropped, tiny tires (not this new "dub" crap). there has recently, since the birth of the neon, been an infiltration of tuners/rice burners. Most of these kids have their daddy's old project ranfla rotting in the front yard.
By the way, El Paso is a well kept secret amungst builders. Many of the bodies and frames are well preserved, with minimal rust beacuse the conditions in "el Chuco" are generally dry.

Bill-E-BoB said:

Every time I see this debate, I really have no clue what category I should put my car in. It's finished as in complete the way I want it, and it's finished as in painted...though the paint is flat. I don't think it can be called a project.

It's a '55 Caddy 4-door, the thing is giant so no matter what I do to the stock 331...it's not a fast car. When I wrench on it, it's to rebuild a water pump or replace a blown power steering hose, it's not to shave a second off my quarter mile time. She's a Cadillac, what's the hurry? The interior is stripped down to seats & bare metal, but protected & sealed so as not to rust. The paint is 2-tone with single stage black with a flattening agent to capture the look without being porous like primer on most of the body & the roof is house of kolor aztec gold metallic with a green apple candy over it. It's hand pin striped. Most people refer to it as a rat rod because the paint is flat, and I tend not to argue, but there is no rust and it's 100% mechanically sound, so that term doesn't really fit either.

There's no billet or expensive modern technology to be found, so it's no street rod. Harley Earl already put the sexiest fins & dagmars in existence on the 55 caddy, so there's no need to modify the body, so it's not really a custom either.

I mean, it's finished in my eyes, it's pristine to many, and it's certainly not stock...so I guess custom is the closest fit. But then, calling it a hot rod seems just as fitting until you start over-thinking things. So, basically, I just call her Black Betty, I call her my Caddy. What do y'all think? You can see pictures on my profile if that helps you get an idea.

[Tessa LeTaunt {★}]

I do modeling work for a friend of mine at local car shows by hanging around his vehicles and posing for onlooker's cameras. He has extreme talent, and has restored numerous amounts of Hot Rods and Kustoms, however my particular faves of all that he has built are his Rat Rods. Yeah, I said it. RAT RODS. Here in Kansas City, it's all about the raggedy, rusty hunks of junk that most people would otherwise view as "a piece of sh*t". Grant it, we do have an outstanding amount of "finished product" that is shown throughout here, but Rat Rods do hold a high stature as well. In fact, the biggest annual car show that always has the most massive turn out, is dedicated to Rat Rods.
There's just something about a chopped body and custom chassis with random parts from various other motor vehicles that aren't even made anymore, that entails more creativity and artistic endeavor to me, than any other car that's restored "by the book". It's all about pulling a rusting heap of practically nothing out of the junk yard, and instead of trying to turn it into what it once was, respecting it for what it is now and bringing it back to life in it's current form. Old cars like that of which are used for a Rat Rod's body, aren't going to be around forever. Although I understand restoring them and making them shiny is a way of preserving their history, I find that their story is told much better when left as the rusty, weathered, and worn shell that was simply given a second chance.
I understand that creating subgenres may be of annoyance, but it is what it is. Rat Rods fit into a category all of their own. I don't consider them to still be a project car just because they're rusted. They're just as "finished" as any painted car will ever be. Heck, they were "finished" when they were picked up as a piece of trash with no other plans in sight, other than to sit and continue rusting where they were. When it comes down to it, it's either you respect them or you don't. To each his (or her) own, I suppose.