Rat rods..............

...... love 'em or hate 'em.... you can't ignore these ones!!!

Hi Al,

I actually love them, but can you imagine some of these going for MOT and passing...

Andy...

Ha!!! try getting one through the SVA test. Monkeys would stand a better chance of writing War and Peace!!!

By the way, I forgot to say that my favourite one of these three is the second one, although it would have been better if we could of heard the engine run and have an on board camera whilst going for a ride...

Skid wrote:Ha!!! try getting one through the SVA test. Monkeys would stand a better chance of writing War and Peace!!!

Think the SVA approval scheme is just for vehicles less than ten years old on their first registration here .....

Guy up heres brought a ford pickup over to tow his house ... sorry, 9 million berth caravan ... its 15 years old and he said the garage said it didn't need the SVA.

I may have misinterpreted and am in error though .... often happens :)

I see Rat Rods at almost every show I go to, Not as many as I once saw. I think the Genre is dying down. At first the idea of the Rat Rod was to replicate the old Home made hot rods of the late 1940's Nobody had money for fancy paint and the such and the cars were put together using what ever parts you could find or could afford to buy or trade for. And while those cars may not have been pretty they were well built and as safe as anything else on the road back then. Today's Rat Rod is parts that are cobbled together but there doesn't seem to be regard for safety of any kind. I see then with big hole rusted into the floor board, the floor board being so rusty you can't really rest your feet on them. Drive shafts spinning through an open hole in the floor trying to get the car lower, easy for anyone to get a hand or shirt tail caught up in. The cars are just not being build in a safe way. I think this might be one of the reasons for the decline in the genre. The above is only my opinion and may or may not agree with yours.

This is from the SVA site ( GOV.UK...: -

GOV.UK wrote:
2. Exemptions from vehicle approval
You don’t need vehicle approval for:

heavy goods vehicles (more than 3,500kg maximum weight) over 25 years old
light goods vehicles (3,500kg maximum weight or less) over 10 years old
cars and minibuses with 8 passenger seats or less (not including the driver) over 10 years old
buses, coaches and minibuses with more than 8 passenger seats (not including the driver) built by a single manufacturer before 29 July 2010
buses, coaches and minibuses with more than 8 passenger seats (not including the driver) with different body and chassis manufacturers, made before 29 July 2011
tracked vehicles, eg a vehicle that runs on tracks rather than wheels
vehicles designed and constructed for use on construction sites, quarries, ports and airports
vehicles designed and constructed for and used by the armed services, fire and rescue forces, or used in maintaining public order

Johnag wrote:By the way, I forgot to say that my favourite one of these three is the second one, although it would have been better if we could of heard the engine run and have an on board camera whilst going for a ride...

Don't know when that one was built John, but I modeled this in July 2010.


I love 'beater' rods !!

Hi Mr G,

Love it Sir, you really have a knack for building these kind of models...

Andy...

He certainly does Andy.

Sorry, I'd forgotten the SVA (Single Vehicle Approval) test has now been changed to the IVA (Individual Vehicle Approval) test and covers the following:....

You must apply for vehicle approval if you’ve:

built a vehicle
rebuilt a vehicle
radically altered a vehicle
reconstructed a classic vehicle
imported a vehicle

Taken from IVA on gov.uk

....... and there is no way on Earth a rat rod as we know them would pass the test.

Maybe related to the pug dog fashion--they're so ugly they're almost beautiful.  To me they are like loud golf pants on a fat man. At any angle pretty bad.  Still, I can admire the effort made.

I go along with Buck. I'm not seeing as many as I used to, and those I do see seem to be a better quality IF the are licensed for the street. I think the safety issue is probably the driving force here. That being said, I love the damn things.

Me to John.

Now this is what I call a BIG engine:



But for some inexpicable reason, I much prefer this one:

I prefer the black one too Al ..... it'd be better if that silly woman got out the way though ...

Agreed. Nice round whitewalls and shiny hubcaps.

What woman?

This has got to be unique methinks:

My kind of Mini !

Now that is one sweeeeet Mini...

Awesome !!!!!!

Do I want it or do I need it ..... hmmmmm

to be honest im not much of a fan, most just look too unsafe or just slapped together

These have to be the wildest rat rods I have ever seen: