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1940-ish Chevy or GMC pickup cab on homebuilt square tube frame with Chev or GMC 6 banger and 1 ton dually wheels. Also: Mamas don't let your babies grow up to build rat rods #DavesCarIDService
I've seen rat rods you people wouldn't believe. Exhaust on fire under the bumper of a 53 Nash. I watched spider web grilles glitter on a stick welded chassis. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.
If you will allow me a little history lecture: about 25 years ago a bunch of younger hot rod guys got sick of the ever-more high tech hot rod trend (billet aluminum, digital dashes etc) and began a back-to-tradition movement to resurrect 30s-60s style hot rods & customs
That included restoring survivor hot rods & customs from the era, and making historically accurate new builds from surviving parts. A favorite of mine is Verne Hammond's '34 flathead coupe 
These cars were well-built but often a little rough appearing, in primer and with a little rust around the edges; just as many hot rods were in the '30s-'60s. In 1995 though they were very refreshing and drew a lot of attention at car shows.
Eventually some people noticed the attention these cars were getting, and decided if a slightly rough spare parts hot rod build was cool, then the most rusty garbage Frankenstein build would be the MOST cool, sparking an arms race to built the biggest junkyard POS
These came to be known as "rat rods." Aggressive wackiness, not historical accuracy, is their goal, and the cars are often a ground scraping bizzarro mishmash of 1930s to 1990s found parts like dually bus wheels and Isuzu diesel motors
Although builders of these vehicles happily accept the term "rat rod," it is not recommended to refer to a traditional hot rod as such, especially in front of its builder.
L: rat rod
R: not rat rod
L: rat rod
R: not rat rod
Ed "Big Daddy" Roth (PBUH) would in no conceivable universe have ever built a rat rod
Many Ed Roth cars were aggressively wacky but by god they were chromed to the hilt, covered in pearlescent paint jobs, and will be eventually recognized as the 20th Century's finest works of art
To make a musical analogy,
L: rat rod
R: not rat rod
L: rat rod
R: not rat rod
