where did the term rat rod come from
Rat rod The origin of the term "rat rod" is the subject of dispute, but were coined by one specific person in the Shifters So. Cal. car club. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Anthony Casteneda thought of the word when they were interviewed in a Rod & Custom magazine article. Anthony stated that to him and his car club, their traditional hot rods were lacking certain elements like paint and/or upholstery, and were similar to rat bikes of their time period, thus the name Rat Rods. The Shifters So.Cal. started a trend of younger guys that were in to Rockabilly music,dressed in a 1950s Greaser style, that were building period correct pre war hot rods. This trend started in southern California. Soon after the Rod & Custom Magazine article featured the Shifters, magazines such as Burn Out, Continental Restyling,Hot Rod,Cal,and Hop Up featured the club and this new phenomena that was hitting not only southern California, but cities all over the nation. Opinions regarding the term's origins were based in one of the following perspectives: Years later, in 1998,one of many articles was written in Hot Rod Magazine, this was done by automotive journalist Gray Baskerville, about cars that, at that time, continued to be covered by primer; or, the first rat rod was owned by artist, Robert Williams, who had a '32 Ford Roadster that was painted in primer. However, Hot Rod magazine has verified the latter view.[3] Gray's use of the term was in relation to "Rat Bikes," motorcycles that were assembled from spare parts, to be enjoyed and ridden, and not necessarily for the display of the builder's skills. It is believed that the term is likely to have originally been used in a derogatory or pejorative sense, as this remains the case among sections of the hot rod community; however, the term has also been adopted in a positive light by other parts of the sub-culture.[2]