a rat rod is self expression.....as long as u put your heart sould blood sweat and tears into it it can be classified as a rat. that goes for all the shiny nice built ones as well, if u built it i classify it as rat cuz chances are you ate peanut butter sandwhiches for lunch and lived paycheck to paycheck dumping every dime you had into something you've always wanted. as long as some1 didnt build it for you and its not a trailor queen its a rat