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 ...

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 ...

We start our rat rod truck adventure in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where our man Jesse Kiser attended the Heavy Rebel Weekender rockabilly music festival and car show, a hardcore Mecca for ...

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.

The rad rod is, as Sam Hard of Hard Up Garage oh-so-eloquently describes it, “this and that, and this and that.” Builders, the community and the automotive media are quick to put labels on what a rat ...