Word of warning.

Ok, so this isn't really set in the 1970s like most of the stuff I talk about. Rat Rod culture became known to me around 2014 or so with the Discovery Channel's Vegas Rat Rod reality show, set in Las Vegas of course. It profiled a custom-machine fabricator Steve Darnel as he welded up and ground out visions that combined rust, junk, stripped-down speed and lots of cut out holes!

What is a Rat Rod?

"A rat rod, as usually known today, is a custom car with a deliberately worn-down, unfinished appearance, typically lacking paint, showing rust, and made from cheap or cast-off parts."

-from Wikipedia.

As typical to this kind of show (Monster Garage, American Chopper) there's a customer, a set plan, a deadline and a pile of parts and a crude framework to put it all together with. What I liked immediately about this aesthetic is how it's intentionally left harsh and loud, refinement or smoothness is passed over in preference to patina or authenticity. A Rat Rod is pure machine; mechanically sound yet offering little in visual smoothness or creature comforts for the owner/occupant.