To me the term 'rat rod' was coined as a new way of talking about a 'beater' - the rod that was built right for safe driving, but nothing extra just for appearance including, in many cases, paint & custom upholstery. Today there is a trend to make the 'rat rod' scary or unsafe, at least in appearance, and shock value is the rule. As others said, a 'faux rat rod' is, IMO, just a joke.