As auto customizers stretched their imaginations further and further, a funny thing happened. Detroit began to take notice. The cars of the late 1940s were more or less recycled designs of the late ‘30s and early ‘40s. Once manufacturers began to focus on automobile production after the end of World War II, this started to change. Of course, we were also entering the jet age and soon would be entering the space race with Russia. These two factors alone would have a great influence on the cars that would roll out of Detroit during the second half of the 1950s. But there is no denying that the creations coming out of the customizing shops and garages around the country also had an influence on what was showing up in new-car showrooms. Cars were lower and leaner—chopped and channeled from the factory. Paint schemes and interior treatments were wilder than anything that anyone had ever seen on a new car.
A highly modified custom 1951 Mercury coupe.
Pushing the Limits
Rat rodding at its basic roots is a break from the norm. It shoves its finger in the face of the hot rodding establishment and says, “I’m tired of the status quo.” It’s all part of a constantly evolving process. The original hot rods and customs were a way for people to differentiate their cars from everybody else’s. But, eventually, even those building custom cars needed to further distance themselves from the rest of the crowd. Leading the charge was a man who would become the pied piper of those everywhere who dared to be different: Ed “Big Daddy” Roth.
Roth was born in 1932 in the center of what would become the flashpoint of all things “kool” in the automotive world: Southern California. Roth immersed himself in the SoCal hot rod scene, amassing a collection of cars. His artistic nature led him to his first foray into car customization by learning how to pinstripe. This helped him make ends meet while trying to support a wife and five children by working at a department store during the day. He soon gained a reputation as a gifted pinstriper, and he eventually left the retail world behind to forge an automotive career.
The first car of Roth’s that gained significant notoriety was Little Jewel, a mildly customized 1930 Ford Model A Tudor. But it was the invention of fiberglass that cemented Big Daddy’s place in hot rodding history. This revolutionary material allowed anybody with enough mechanical know-how and determination to design and build the car of his dreams without having to learn how to perform the metalwork that was previously needed to customize a vehicle. Any design you could imagine was now within reach, and Ed’s second creation, The Outlaw, was unlike any other custom that anybody had ever seen. It caused such a buzz that he was able to open his own garage and start cranking out other mind-bending creations, including Road Agent, Mysterion, and the famous Beatnik Bandit. None of these cars (except Outlaw, for which an argument could be made that it was loosely based on a 1920s-era Ford) were based on production vehicles. They were all from the mind of Ed himself.
Kustom Kulture
The use of the term “kustom kulture” was born of Southern California roots sometime in the ‘60s and was generally used to describe the hot rod lifestyle as a whole. Although kustom kulture has evolved over the decades, it has always had an artistic and rebellious undertone. The term (and improper spelling) is still used today to describe the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s hot-rod lifestyle.
Building these cars wasn’t cheap, and much of it was financed with the airbrushed T-shirts that Ed sold at car shows. Images of his grotesque monsters, often shown piloting equally wacky custom cars, were selling just as fast as he could create them. His most popular monster was Rat Fink, which was intended to be a direct jab at the wholesome, clean-cut Mickey Mouse. Rat Fink was everything that Mickey Mouse wasn’t: bloated, dirty, smelly, and just plain ugly. The word “fink” in the character’s name was a slightly less vulgar derivation of another term used to describe someone of, let’s say, less than altruistic values. The outrage that these shirts caused only served to exponentially broaden their—and Ed’s—popularity. Model-car kits based on his creations sold by the millions at the zenith of their popularity.
Ed’s interests eventually turned to building custom motorcycles and three-wheeled “trikes,” but his initial visions helped usher in a new era of free-form car customization. Other luminaries of the day, such as Dean Jeffries, Gene Winfield, George Barris, and Darryl Starbird, also began to shift their focus from more traditional, organic designs to more fanciful, abstract creations with features such as asymmetrical pieces and bubble tops. Roth, along with Kenny Howard (better known by his nom de plume, Von Dutch) could also make a case for creating the primordial ooze that eventually evolved into what is now known as the “lowbrow” art movement.
Lowbrow Art
Lowbrow art became popular in the 1970s and referred to the pop surrealism movement that was heavily influenced by hot rod culture, punk music, and “comix” (underground, self-published comics).
What Is a Rat Rod?
We’ve traced the roots of rat rod culture back to the beginning of the automobile: from the doodlebug to the jalopy and all the way to the hot rod scene of the 1960s. But where does today’s rat rod really come from? The rat rod scene has continued to evolve and has taken on a life of its own in the twenty-first century. Today’s rat rod pays homage to the hot rod of old while bringing its own modern ingenuity and style to the table. Its charm lies in its vintage appeal and its rebellious nature.
Many different sources have claimed to have coined the term “rat rod” or have tried to pin its first usage to a certain person, publication, or club. The fact of the matter is that no one truly knows when the term was first used, how it was first used, or who used it first.
In this book, we won’t even try to track the term’s origins because that effort would be based on unverifiable resources and ultimately would result in more speculation. The early history of the term itself will remain mysterious and debatable until someone develops time travel and we can go back and figure it all out.
For the sake of factual explanation of the history of rat rod culture, we will emphatically declare that the term “rat rod” has its own unique meaning today and that wherever it originated is irrelevant. Because the term is so polarizing, and because what exactly a rat rod is or isn’t has been such a hot topic, let’s delve into a couple of previously published articles from Rat Rod Magazine.
Spectators enjoy the rat rods on display at the annual Lonestar Roundup event in Austin, Texas.
An Open Letter from the Editor
Published in Rat Rod in January 2011, this article was the magazine’s first official response to the question of “what is a rat rod?”
What Is a Rat Rod?
Before I dig into this question, let me start off with a little disclaimer: I appreciate all cars. I’m not a hater. If you’re into shiny restorations or European sports cars, so be it. I don’t understand why people get so bent out of shape about someone else’s tastes … I mean, a little harmless chiding is no big deal, but I’ve seen some pretty aggressive arguments over what kind of car scene someone is into. I myself grew up in a racing family. My dad was racing stock cars from the day I was born, so I grew accustomed to watching him slave away in the garage, trying to get the car ready for the weekends. I’ve always had a love for the classics, especially American muscle, and an appreciation for anything that looks cool or goes fast. But, yes, I do like rat rods the most, and I’ve developed a healthy respect for them and their builders. If you hate rats, you probably shouldn’t be reading a copy of Rat Rod Magazine.