With the end of World War II, automobile culture was beginning to dominate the US Hundreds of thousands of young people had left the military and, back home, many wanted the most prized possession: a car . However, most of the available models were too expensive, as well as large and bulky, designed for families. They couldn't afford sports cars either.
Some of these guys came up with a solution: take old, dilapidated cars and fix them up by adding new or recycled parts that gave them a unique, eye-catching, and sometimes quirky look. The only limits were the skill and imagination of the "mechanic", and the only requirement that the result work. The “Hot Rods” were born , and with them a whole lifestyle that is still alive.
The Hot Rods were gaining in spectacularity, but their evolution led to models that were too expensive and not very functional, for exhibition. Against this drift, the Rat Rod style emerged in the early 70s , a return to the origins of the Hot Rods , more focused on recycled parts than on new ones and with the idea of highlighting the owner's ability to create a functional car from ruined materials.
Typical Rat Rods use bodies from models between the 1920s and 1950s and are built not only for aesthetics, but also for driving pleasure.
