Following World War II, young soldiers came home after experiencing close encounters with death during battles on the ground, in the air, and at sea. The transition back to civilian life was challenging after having faced so much; they needed a way to continue their peacetime lifestyle on the edge.
During the war, the Big Three were not producing automobiles and trucks for the public sector. Their production of American iron went toward keeping our military mobile. There were many vehicles left over from the '30s, and these tin buckets could be had for cheap. Those wild GIs began modifying both body and engine. To eliminate weight, the fenders and running boards were tossed. After someone figured out that the hacksaw could cut other things besides bar stock and flat plate, such as an entire '32 coupe, a whole new identity, known as the hot rod, was born.
With the hot rod came a lifestyle, music, and fashion: cuffed Levi's, white T-shirts with a pack of smokes tightly tucked up into a rolled up sleeve, exposing a bulging bicep. As with every generation, hairstyles play an important part of their identity, either a flat top, a pompadour, or the greasy, combed-back with finned sides that feathered into a stylish ducktail in the back. Along with the appearance came rock 'n' roll art. Music was a major contributor to the generation's heartbeat. During the war, pinup girls were the craze. Soldiers brushed sexy figures on the fuselages of fighters and bombers for good luck. Babes, boobs, and lipstick became major players of the custom culture.
The hot rod created an offspring with less lust and more rust. This era of custom rodding seems to have been in a time capsule for the past 50 years. These rustic rumbling rods and rockabilly music have been part of a very active underground lifestyle for years, only to become noticed by the mainstream of today's rodding.
We have been seeing an overflow of some vintage rods or rat-rod trucks participating in many of the mainline shows during the past couple of seasons. To some, rat rods are looked upon as rust-bucket jalopies. These vehicles feature used, rusty parts from original donors-and the more used, the better. More rust seems to attract more appreciation to these decaying customs. Others bodies show it all, right down to the bare metal. DP-50 and DP-90 primers are the colors of choice for these cruisers. To achieve the traditional rat-rod stance, the framerails are notched a foot in the rear, and a dropped Bell and I-beam axle are bolted to a suicide perch, supported by a pair of hairpin radius rods and shocks that get direction from an F-1 steering box. The rear suspensions are either a banjo-style or Ford 9-inch that are anchored by trailing arms, a Panhard bar, or a crossmember spring pack with shocks. Four tall, wide white tires are mounted on a set of steelies or wires. Some are powered by four-bangers, inline sixes, or flatheads fueled by multi-carbs and exhausted by straight pipes. To make them legal for night cruisin', bullet-style headlights are mounted between the grille and front wheels.
This custom rod culture is becoming trendier among the mainstream rodders and is attracting more of today's X-games youth movement to our hobby.