Man, that brings it back.

I lived about four miles from Route 66 (now I-55) in Illinois, just south of Springfield. Our cruise was the North Grand Icy Root Beer in Springfield, or the local Tastee-Freeze. There were some "gatherings" on old Route 4 where the new road bypassed it. The gatherings involved a few cars and a flagman.

Gotta tell you - I NEVER saw anything I could classify as a rat rod until late 2003 when I was in Gibbon's shop in Darlington. They were building one. Welded rusty old rails over a new P&J chassis to make it look ratty. I think it was glass with a faux patina. I raised the WTF flag, and Kyle told me it was the newest fad.

A rat rod may be a rat rod, but it wasn't what we drove back in the day.