All kinds of cars show up to the Pomona Swap Meet & Classic Car Show, but none are quite as unique as the rat rods and their owners. To their creators, rat rods are works of art. But, what makes a rat rod a rat rod? What makes them stand out from other hot rods?

Rat rods started when longstanding “classic” car rules, once carved in stone, were broken and thrown to the ground. The rules were ignored by a group of hardcore enthusiasts who went their own way. Their street rods were imperfect. Rusty. Fast. Loud. Ugly… and beautiful. These project cars often show the heart and soul of the builder. And, in many cases, more ingenuity and work goes into building a rat rod than into a classic restoration job.

Whereas a show quality car looks to impress with perfection, rat rods seek to impress with out of the box thinking. For example, a classic show car owner might search high and low to find an original shifter for his car. A rat rod owner won’t care about finding the original, and actually prefers to be different. The rat rod builder might look around the garage for a suitable replacement. Remembering that he damaged one of his wrenches while working on the rod, he decides to weld the wrench to the shifter mechanism. Voilà, an out of the box thought and a unique, original shift knob.

At the heart of the rat rod scene is a desire to stand out. The builders, like their cars, are different. They don’t want to fit in with the “classic show car” scene. While some rat rods may look simple, they’re usually anything but. These machines generally have an “ugly,” flat paint job, often with the weathered patina of the bare metal showing through. Rust? No problem! These are raw, unpolished, ultra-loud, and super fast machines.

The key is that a rat rod simply does not fit into the rest of the collector car scene… and that’s the way their builders like it. For more information, I suggest you check out the Rat Rods Rule forum!