It may be a dead horse, but till someone can reasonably give a definition, the question will remain. Here is something I pulled for some understanding of the term:
As with many cultural terms, there are disputes over the origin of the term "rat rod". Some say it first appeared in an article written in Hot Rod Magazine by Gray Baskerville about cars that still sported a coat of primer. Some claim that the first rat rod was owned by artist Robert Williams who had a '32 Ford Roadster that was painted in primer. Hot Rod magazine has since verified this.[1] Gray's use was in relation to "Rat Bikes," motorcycles thrown together from spare parts to be enjoyed and ridden, not necessarily to show the builders best fabrications skills. Although the term likely started out as derogatory or pejorative (and is still used in this way by many of the high dollar Street Rodding community), members of the subcultures that build and enjoy these cars have adopted the term in a positive light.
Like mentioned above the term came about from “Rat Bikes” (aka pack rat bikes, with junk hanging from every where) and pigeonholed a lot of cars into one category. Media once again defined an idea as the “norm” And due to the lack of the understanding of where the term came from we now have “Rat Rods”.
I myself have a hard time using the term “Rat Rod” to describe my ride, I like “Jalopy” or “beater”. In the traditional term “Doodle Bug” would be more fitting but not real manly. The terms “Rat Rod” and “Traditional” get over played.
Traditional by definition; adjective 1. of or pertaining to tradition . 2. handed down by tradition . 3. in accordance with tradition . 4. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the older styles.
What we call traditional, at the time would be main stream. For the time, they used modern parts and building techniques on their old cars. So like the 50’ and 60’s main stream builders (now called traditional) we in time will go from main stream to “Traditional”
Below is some cool reading and a little insight:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_rod http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kustom_Kulture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Fink
