Rat look ? Whats it all about then ?

[Rusty Pelican]

There's a big difference between a genuinely patinated American car that has seen 50 years of dust and sun and these horrendous creations. Doing it to boggo 90s cars just seems to be a really pointless excercise with no relevance to anything at all.

 

 

+1

+2 , Ive been trying to find a piccy of this " genuine " patina , so far I haz failed , shit loads of 90s bodged fakes but nothing truly genuine , Genuine Rat look seems rare then

[Mr Lobster]

It might be me getting old, but....

 

I don't know whether this reflects what has happened to society in the last 15 years or so in terms how the old and unfashionable is considered to be valueless so that its now fashionable to basically ruin a decent, working older car.

 

When I was 18 or whatever, I and all my mates ran an assortment of relatively close to death old tat, but everyone still spent time and money polishing it, modifiying it and generally keeping it going. So the thought of going out and sanding all the paint off to make it rust just seems wierd.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

Is it because modern cars have no character, is that why they have to go to such lengths to 'create' and 'add' it?

I like '90s cars, but they are erring on the side of appliances.

[Justin Case]

, Ive been trying to find a piccy of this " genuine " patina , so far I haz failed , shit loads of 90s bodged fakes but nothing truly genuine , Genuine Rat look seems rare then

 

I would like to think that this is the real thing, could have been left outside in Arizona for 50 years, but I wonder

 

 

[Claypole]

As a look it needs taking away by a seagull.

 

 

When someone puts a rusty bonnet on a brand new car it's become a copy of a look that never existed in the first place.

[Albert Ross]

Hence cars like this.

 

[Pete-M]

When someone puts a rusty bonnet on a brand new car it's become a copy of a look that never existed in the first place.

 

Um, BL did it rather a lot... and I don't think it was a delete option on the Alfasud.

[Guest]

Ratlook is all about being different, by being exactly the same as a load of other people. Funny thing is, without the Internet I wouldn't really know it exists - if you did it round here, I'm pretty certain you wouldn't be able to last the day without being pulled over and watching your car disappear on a low-loader. I've only seen a handful of them in reality.

[steve austin]

I may get shot down for this but surely ANY kind of interest in cars is good? Most of these "rat" cars locally are driven by young people and at least it encourages them to look at the basics of a car and get involved. If you look past the tat, some of the items they stick on are funny and ironic. Lastly, 90% of the cars I have seen "ratted" are old cars that otherwise would have been scrapped and the yoof of today are preserving the autoshite of tomorrow! Here endeth the sermon.

[Guest]

Dunno, most of the rat cars I've seen looked to be in fairly decent nick before they started. I had the opportunity on the way to/from work to see the downfall of a red Polo from being near-mint to gradually having tat stuck to it, repainted in red primer and the likes - then one day it was gone. I don't think he'd have chosen not to drive if it wasn't for rat-look cars, he probably just wouldn't have attached a load of beer cans to it.

[Mr Lobster]

I may get shot down for this but surely ANY kind of interest in cars is good?

 

Yes, thats a fair point. Its good that kidz are interested in cars rather than having no interest whatsoever

 

Lastly, 90% of the cars I have seen "ratted" are old cars that otherwise would have been scrapped and the yoof of today are preserving the autoshite of tomorrow! Here endeth the sermon.

 

Got to take issue with that bit though - most of the cars that end up 'ratted' will end up going directly to scrap and are in all probability going there quicker than they otherwise would.

[steve austin]

Got to take issue with that bit though - most of the cars that end up 'ratted' will end up going directly to scrap and are in all probability going there quicker than they otherwise would.

Fair comment I guess, but again, most of the local ones appear to be wrecks in the first place. A friend of mine raided my shed and loft for "accessories" to do his Mini which was way past its sell by date already. He was going to break it but instead gave it a new lease of life and now he has seen partial sense and dumped the roof rack and saved the Mini!

[Alexg]

I have mixed feeling about 'rat look'.

 

This for me is awesome-

 

This for me isnt-

 

I shouldnt like this...

... but I read the 'build thread' and it was just a huge amount fun and was not taken seriously. I quite enjoyed it.

[barrett]

That Datsun is nice, but i'd not kick any 510 out of bed.

 

Going back to those utter shitboxes that Trigger posted, what is the legality of having three diferent reg plates on your car? That must be illegal, shirley? Especially when two of them are plainly illegal on that car even if they were the only plates...

[binhoker668]

That Datsun is nice, but i'd not kick any 510 out of bed.

 

Yup - that ticks boxes for me too.

Other thing is that I *do* like matt black/olive as a car olour - not with accessories, but just debadged and matt.

Defo gonna have one some day. But not soon - a good example of my feeling on it is that I wouldn't matt the Maz. But then, I would a punto or something else fairly nondescript...

[eddyramrod]

It might be me getting old, but....

 

I don't know whether this reflects what has happened to society in the last 15 years or so in terms how the old and unfashionable is considered to be valueless so that its now fashionable to basically ruin a decent, working older car.

 

When I was 18 or whatever, I and all my mates ran an assortment of relatively close to death old tat, but everyone still spent time and money polishing it, modifiying it and generally keeping it going. So the thought of going out and sanding all the paint off to make it rust just seems wierd.

 

+1 from me. Quite a lot of my old cars have been genuinely "rat," with battle scars, actual rust, etc... that Datsun 510 reminded me of my 1967 Hillman (Arrow) Minx, which had variously red or green doors on a white(-ish) car. If it's earned, no problem, but contrived simply doesn't work. And as for that rod... who builds something like that, with all the engineering it requires, then doesn't give it a show-stealing coat of paint?????