Hot rodding on a budget. That’s what rat rods are all about. Rusty, loud, sometimes smoky and always out of place, rat rods have somehow won the hearts of a new generation of car lovers. Chopped and channeled, with sometimes outrageous exhaust systems, these cars are built to be driven and not shown. Paint is a last option, only when there’s some money left over for it.

We’ve come full circle on our Auto Monday features, so once again we present one of our favorite creative forms of the automobile, the rat rod. Our gallery is coming up next.

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