Rat Rods

I didn't fully appreciate the concept of rat rods until I wandered through the dozens of vehicles on display at Autorama's lower level, low brow exhibit. I had read articles and watched TV shows about the rat rod movement but it took seeing a group of these rusty relics in person for the light bulb to go on. The cars that fit the rat rod bill are backyard garage creations brought to life by guys in tee shirts and jeans, not some high priced custom shop.

I recently added a piece to my Imagekind gallery that I feel captures the rat rod spirit. http://www.imagekind.com/Ford-F-Rat-art?IMID=1c525fa9-0823-406a-acfa-3cba941dc779
A detail shot of the hood from a decades old Ford F100 pick up truck. The rust, pockmarks and patina are good visual indicators of a true rat rod.

A stroll around Autorama

There are an awful lot of light fixtures in the ceiling of the Cobo exhibit hall. The reason I know this is because most of them seemed to be reflected in the cars I was trying to photograph at the Autorama this past weekend. Those obnoxious light reflections are all over the shiny sheet metal which doesn't make for the best looking car images. Dodging crowds of people streaming by the cars made things difficult as well as I tried squeaking out a shot or two. However the lower level of the hall, set up for the low-brow crowd saved the day. No shiny surfaces were in evidence on the rat rods in the Cobo basement. Coated in primer or worn original paint, or in some cases no paint at all just bare sheet metal, the low-budget, low-brow rat rods hearken back to a simpler time of hot rodding when a lot of enthusiasm and a bit of automotive know-how could put you into your own personalized one of a kind ride.