It may surprise you, as it did me, that there is actually a car collector category called rat rods. One might compare a rat rod to some modern art sculpture that not everyone can appreciate the artistic talent involved in.
Rat rods reportedly originated in Southern California, with the term credited to Anthony Casteneda of the Shifters Southern California Car Club in the early 1990s. It was probably a derogatory term at that time and, understandably, may still be among other circles in the world of antique car collecting.
It’s believed that originally rat rods were sort of a protest vehicle, a negative way of expressing disapproval of the high-priced custom hot rods, especially ones that were rarely driven and towed in trailers to shows. Each rat rod is unique, usually starting with a rusted, worn out, unpainted vehicle car built from the 1920s to the 1950s. Typically, these custom cars use parts from almost any source including nonautomotive parts at junk yards, swap meets, flea markets and hardware stores.
There is considerable criticism of rat rods. As one journalist, Brad Ocock, said, “A rat rod is something someone threw together to make a statement, and usually that statement is, ‘I don’t know how to weld. I had a bunch of crap lying around and realized there was enough to put together a car but didn’t want to put any effort into it.’ ”
That’s a little harsh, it seems to me, but I would agree that rat rods aren’t the prettiest vehicles on the road. Building one takes a very creative person, though. It’s all in the imagination of the builder. So I asked Tim Titsworth, of Concord, who owns this issue’s featured car, what motivated him to build a rat rod.
“I’m a contractor,” he said. “I’ve always been a welder in construction and a carpenter. I like the simplicity of the rat rods — they’re rough, there’s not a whole lot of finish to them. I’m a rough carpenter, I’m not a finish carpenter, I don’t have the patience for it, but I do have an artistic side. I like fabrication, I like working with my hands. Rat rods don’t spend any money on paint, not buying chrome, not buying wheels and rims, there’s no interior with them. Everything is just sort of rough.”
One could argue that they’re also environmentally friendly, as they’re always reusing parts, some that aren’t even associated with automobiles.
Titsworth acquired his care in 2015 and registered it as a 1931 Chevrolet sedan.
“I was looking to buy someone else’s (unfinished) project that would have had the frame, the drive train and the engine. I thought that was a good starting point.”
Actually, Titsworth’s wife found this car online, and the owner lived just around the corner from him. When new, the sheet metal body was attached to a wooden frame.
“The wood frame was gone. All there was was the outer skin of the body,” he said.
What Titsworth really bought for $3,700 was a three-year project that included a bunch of parts but not an engine.
“I lengthened the frame in the front because I wanted the wheels and axle in front of the radiator. The back of the frame was narrow and originally set up as a two-seater.”
Because it’s a four-door care and he has a family, he widened the back of the frame so it’s now a four-passenger vehicle. He got a 1995 GMC Yukon rear end and Chevy transmission for it from Pick-n-Pull (the junk yard chain).
Titsworth did all the work himself in the garage of his house. The only tools he used were a hammer, a grinder and a welder. He estimates he has probably invested an additional $9,000 and maybe 1,000 hours of labor but has been very creative and says he’s had a lot of fun. For example, the slanted grill is from an old Essex automobile, the outside door handles are made from old spark plugs, and it has air bags to raise and lower the vehicle from about 1 inch of ground clearance to about 6-inches.
Getting in and out of the rat rod was not easy for this old body of mine, but I was rewarded with a great ride and a lot of thumbs-up signs. Seats were more comfortable than I expected but a long way from luxurious. Great acceleration and plenty of noise comes from the popular 350-cubic-inch Chevy V8 engine.
No creature comforts are in the car, but he included one of my favorite options that even the most expensive cars have – a built-in cup holder. Titsworth drives his car weekly.
“I love driving it,” he said. “The unexpected joy is kids. Kids love that car. I invite the kids to sit in the car, take pictures, create fond memories of hot rod shows.”
Titsworth summed up his car with this: “It’s really just a poor man’s hot rod.”
Have an interesting vehicle? Contact David Krumboltz at MOBopoly@yahoo.com. To view more photos of this and other issues’ vehicles or to read more of Dave’s columns, visit mercurynews.com/author/david-krumboltz.
