The phrase is a spin-off of "rat bike," which was in reference to custom motorcycles built on the cheap. The late Gray Baskerville, venerated hot rod writer, is said to have been the first to apply ...

If so, your opinion on rat rods—and by extension, diesel rat rods—may be informed by whether you are already invested in traditional hot rod building (pre-1949 hot rods) and the long history of ...

Anyone who is at least passingly familiar with custom cars has probably at least heard of the concept of a hot rod. A hot rod is, of course, a custom car designed with the express purpose of going as ...

In the world of custom builds, rat rods are a special breed. Ugly enough to be unstoppable head turners, these machines are if you like the ultimate sleepers, sending all the wrong messages to the ...

Joe Kozuszek of Belleville admires the interior of an entry in Saturday’s Rat Rod Show in Grafton. Six-year-old Ethan Hosto of Worden gets a closer look at a “rat” on a rat rod at Saturday’s show in ...

Hot Wheels took its annual Legends Tour to Detroit, a city with one of America’s most vibrant car cultures, and the results didn’t disappoint. The winner is a 1931 Dodge Rat Rod built by three members ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Feb. 14—DICKINSON, N.D. — The world of rat rods, once dismissed as little more than heaps of scrap metal, has captured the hearts ...

Roger Rentola and Bryan Dagel don't worry about waxing their quirky vintage vehicles. They are, after all, rat rods. Unlike their more polished cousins in the antique and street rod family of older ...

They say life is an experience, each one of which makes us bigger. Ford Motors' legacy is a true testament to this quote. With a history that dates back 119 years, only a handful of competitors enjoy ...

Regardless of being admired or mocked, rat rods are a work of personalization. They harbor innovation instead of conformity, functionality instead of precision, and enthusiasm instead of refinement.