Photo: AutoBarn
How did Big Bang Theory’s Raj once put it? Old broken things are so much better than new things that work? If you think about it, this could actually be the guideline of custom builders: they take old, mostly nonfunctional machines, and turn them into works of mechanical art. True, some of them stop midway through, and this is how rat rods come to be.
Rat rods have been around for decades now, and it would seem nothing will stop them from being around for the foreseeable future too. Sure, they occupy a rather small niche in the industry, but even those who wouldn’t invest in such a thing can’t deny they are real lookers.
Take this 1948 GMC 3100, for instance. Part of the New Design line of trucks made from 1947 to 1955 alongside Chevy’s Advance-Design, it could have been restored and customized like countless others of its breed. That would probably have made it a hell of a lot less cool, though.
The truck presently has a lot of things going for it as it plays the rat rod card. There are tons of rust and dents on the body, the bed looks awful, and you can barely see a speck of its original paint. What’s more, it comes with no air conditioning (we’re told a full windshield sun visor is there to keep passengers cool, like that ever happened), and the gauges don’t work, at least not at the moment.
What appears to be working is the 350ci (5.7-liter) engine under the hood. It’s not entirely clear where it comes from (it could be an Impala, or a Camaro, from the 1990s), but it’s there, and it works with its 3-speed automatic transmission to spin possibly the only brand new things on this truck, the 20-inch US Mags wheels.
The rat rod, with all its ups and downs, is selling on AutoBarn for $25,995.
Take this 1948 GMC 3100, for instance. Part of the New Design line of trucks made from 1947 to 1955 alongside Chevy’s Advance-Design, it could have been restored and customized like countless others of its breed. That would probably have made it a hell of a lot less cool, though.
The truck presently has a lot of things going for it as it plays the rat rod card. There are tons of rust and dents on the body, the bed looks awful, and you can barely see a speck of its original paint. What’s more, it comes with no air conditioning (we’re told a full windshield sun visor is there to keep passengers cool, like that ever happened), and the gauges don’t work, at least not at the moment.
What appears to be working is the 350ci (5.7-liter) engine under the hood. It’s not entirely clear where it comes from (it could be an Impala, or a Camaro, from the 1990s), but it’s there, and it works with its 3-speed automatic transmission to spin possibly the only brand new things on this truck, the 20-inch US Mags wheels.
The rat rod, with all its ups and downs, is selling on AutoBarn for $25,995.
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