Meet ‘Rat Bastard’! This ‘Rat Rod’ hails from Petoskey, Michigan, and makes its home at ‘Gibby’s Garage. Before I fill you in on all the details of my love story. Allow me to share we met.
While being shown around the NSRA show at the Kalamazoo Expo center, it wasn’t something shiny that caught my eye…it was a little dirty, and looked like it wanted a good time. It was a ‘Rat Rod’.
If you are scratching your noggin about what is a ‘Rat Rod’, you are not alone. I did the same…here is the simplest explanation from Slahgear.com
“The makeup of a rat rod, unlike in a hot rod, is less about its driving capability and more about its style. To create a rat rod out of a hot rod, you need to inflict deliberate, controlled damage upon it with the ultimate goal of creating something rugged and lived-in. It’s kind of like acid-washing jeans.”
They say you can do that by…
“Replacing entire components of the car with jury-rigged items, like wrenches instead of door handles or a kitchen whisk instead of a gear shifter. It doesn’t matter if it’s unsafe or even works properly — the point is to look cool.”
That’s fine and Dandy but my ‘Rat Bastard’ is the real thing! Owner Jim Gibson found the Old 1941 Ford Pick Up Truck, in the back of a Farmer Neighbor’s property. Everything was intact, but the engine didn’t run, but Jim bought it anyway. That was 40 years ago. After hanging on to the Ol’ truck for 28 years Jimmy decided to restore it, but not like you would think. Because of the purity of the trucks age with rust and wear true to form. He created the perfect Rat Rod!
The Engine is completely rebuilt and has passed all inspections. Hydraulics lift the truck up for the road and the engine roars like the most powerful King of the road! Jimmy even jokes that he has a hitch on the back of ‘Rat Bastard’ and tows his camper behind it.
Oh, and it does have air conditioning; it’s a fan mounted to the dash. Forget the Jag, besides my Jeep, this might be the perfect ride for me!
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