Rat style muscle cars??

[bill440rt]

By definition, the car in question in the article is not a "rat rod".
It is more akin to a "barn find" than anything else, another term that is thrown around these days.

[Ghoste]

Agree, it's greatly overused now isn't it?

[Lord Warlock]

I agree with the flat paint sentiment, some people like the "murdered" flat black everywhere look as being sinister, I see it as a car that looks like it has black primer on it and isn't finished yet.  I can see having some satin looking pieces to make a contrasting look, my challenger has satin black stripes from the factory and i put a black satin srt8 spoiler on it and painted the hoodscoop to match the stripe and spoiler, they aren't flat black though.  Anyone can buy 10 cans of spray paint in a can and spray bomb their car, but it always looks like someone spraybombed the car.

[F8-4life]

I like a car that looks like it sat in a field for years. It shows the battle scars & character.
It can get boring seeing nice painted cars all the time.
Besides the cost of a good paint job today is insane, so you are paying to be worried about it getting scratched for the rest of your life?

[Lord Warlock]

not once you've bought all the paint equipment you need to fix it   I won't hesitate to yank out a paint gun and compressor if a car needs a quickie.  Paint jobs really aren't that expensive, even using quality paint,  they are time consuming to do right, and a lot of effort to make pretty to show off in public.  There is no way I'd pay 10-15k for a paint job, even on my charger.  I probably spent close to 4k on mine doing it myself, and only that much because i would re-do it over and over if i wasn't happy with the result.  Had one stubborn fender that cost me 2 years and multiple recoats, but only because when i stripped it to metal the first time i found body work I'd never known was there, and whoever did it before knew what he was doing alot more than i did.  Took me a while to reach a happy result.

[hatersaurusrex]

I'd say this is the ONLY acceptable example:



And also the only Ford I'd consider owning.

[JB400]

 I second that notion

[Lord Warlock]

I'll accept that one, it needs to look a bit worn...

real rat rods, like 30s cars, i can see how some of those look good looking a bit worn out, but i still think they look better shiny.  It just isn't for me, and i hope it doesn't get as popular as the import craze did.  A few here and there is fine. 

[6spd68]

I agree with the flat paint sentiment, some people like the "murdered" flat black everywhere look as being sinister, I see it as a car that looks like it has black primer on it and isn't finished yet. 

My sentiments exactly sir! 

[Ghoste]

Same here, the Buick GN's were all black and sinister but they had gloss.

[Old Moparz]

Me & my friends started the local rat rod / rat muscle car movement in the early 80's. We just didn't know it was called that, we just thought it was because we were broke. 


As far as purposely making a car look worn out & abused, nope. 

[tan top]

As far as purposely making a car look worn out & abused, nope.  

yeah , i'm all for real good  unrestored original paint or older paint jobs on unrestored cars etc that's a little rough around the edges  !! adds to the old time look from days gone bye , been used & beat on etc  

imo to restore a muscle car &  make it look one  bad winter off of becoming a deralicked pile of shrapnell  , is crazy        

now rat rods , would never build one my self   , but think they look  good !  , & look mean & nasty  

still each to their own !!

[Baldwinvette77]

 I like beaters, im not sure if that counts as a rat rod, but i do like the Unfinished primer look  ... i would personally like to have my charger in a gloss black with a red tailstripe... but i'd also like to keep myself financially afloat... and i cant have both 

[Ghoste]

But would you purposely make it look rusted?

[ws23rt]

But would you purposely make it look rusted?

Now that gets to the point.  Is there a trend that would make someone want to take the finish off a car to fit the rat world?
I just can't see a charger as being a candidate for that.  There are way too many cars that started out a bit ratty and would fit nicely.  To try to make the charger lines move that way just seems odd.

[J.Bond]

But would you purposely make it look rusted?

Saw a show some time ago, where they recreated an old Bonneville salt flats race car, of some sort. And combined it with some sort of connection to Gibson guitars. They purposely built in and added rust and patina. Not something you see every day, but it must appeal to some folks.

The car in mention, from what I read , was not , in any way made to look more worn. That's what an original Mopar painted car will look like if you leave it OUTSIDE in Ultra violet rays.

The more I look at , the more I like it.
At age 54, that car almost represents what I look like at this point.....

[Ghoste]

An interesting point with the guitars.  As I recall that began with Fender and they're making a Strat for one of their star endorsees (Clapton?) and his wanting it to duplicate exactly his signature but worn and extremely valuable instrument that he feared taking on tour any longer.  The idea spread across other touring stars with valuable insturments and then the "me too" cool factor began with the general public wanting new guitars that looked 50 years old.

[myk]

There was a blurb about a brand new Camaro that was soon taken to a paint/custom shop and painted to look "faded" with an appreciable coat of patina-looking paint on it.  There is/was a fad in Japan wherein car-owners would purposely damage and or apply "rusting" techniques to their hoods and body panels to achieve that look as well...Different strokes, I guess...

[Mike DC]

                      
The "Mad Max" car in the pic above is probably not really rusted, but rather a "Joe Dirt" style weathering job with red/brown textured paint for rust.  That car was a recent build for the new Mad Max reboot movie currently in production (Tom Hardy is playing Max this time).


If we're gonna have a rusty beater trend then I hope to GOD people elect to fake it with paint rather than real rust.  We have enough actual rusty muscle cars in this world already.

   

[polywideblock]

we have a Toyota soarer that has been "weathered " over here 5k paint job . fake rust runs from window corners and fake bog job on lower quarters and doors    looks like it sat in a field for the past ten years . great paint job looks real but WHY ?

[Ghoste]

It boggles the mind but I`m with Mike, if it has to happen please let it be painted on simul-rust.