When this 1930 Ford Model A roadster pickup was a finalist for the 2009 America's Most Beautiful Roadster award, a few journalists used the term rat rod to describe the proportions of the car.

Rat-On Roadster: Not Only Neat, but Nasty! Originally published in the November 1989 issue of Hot Rod magazine HOT ROD StaffWriterJan 01, 2023 See All 5 Photos ...

They call them rat rods and, most of the time, their looks can be deceiving. The car we have here may have or may have not been a Volkswagen Beetle at one point in its life.

Thus, the rat rod was born. The term "rat rod" is believed to have been coined by Hot Rod Magazine Editor Gary Baskerville, who used it to refer to a junked-up hot rod owned by artist Robert Williams.

Hot Wheels took its annual Legends Tour to Detroit, a city with one of America’s most vibrant car cultures, and the results didn’t disappoint. The winner is a 1931 Dodge Rat Rod built by three ...

Julie Moen of Port Angeles, right, points to the quirks of a “rat rod” built from a 1928 Ford Roadster by Dennis Broderson of Port Angeles, in the drivers seat, during Saturday’s Kiwanis Car Show at ...

It's what's known as a "rat rod," a custom-made car that is supposed to look like something dug up from a field somewhere. As it turns out, that's exactly how Murray got the vehicle.

An elegant roadster, 15 years in the making and a composite of an amazing array of ideas and parts, was competing with a rat rod slathered in skulls and bamboo. A Mad Max special breathed fire ...