RatRod Rally Day 2 - Day 52/62

Team Malex.

This is one of our regular teams, which are usually very quiet. I have no idea why but they stick to themselves in the evening, so prising a conversation out of them can be difficult.

But they don't do things by halves. If they are driving, they are driving hard, and if they are prepping their car, they do that pretty well. This particular car has 8 spot lights on the front and always incurs the joke "hmm, think you need a few more".

However, this picture is the bonnet obviously.

The idea behind this rally is to emulate a Rat Rod.

The definition of a Rat Rod is quite broad and over the years its mutated somewhat.

A true ratrod is a car that is made from several other cars. Historically a rat rod was a common chassis and parts from several vehicles bolted to it - so it may have a Ford body from the 20/30s on it, but the engine maybe a mid 70s Chevy engine, and so forth.

In fact, the doors might not even match the bodywork.

They were originally many scrap vehicles made into one.

The modern Rat Rod is a vehicle that has an unfinished look and is meant to contrast sharply against the Hot Rod. A Hot Rod will usually have a high finish, bright colours, etc. A Rat Rod is the complete opposite.

Anyway our event is meant to replicate the Rat look, but on a modern car that's not easy. The easy thing a few teams was to strip the bonnet and get it to rust. But what they discovered was that getting a bonnet (or any panel) to rust on a modern vehicle is actually quite difficult.

Paint these days is pretty good at staying on, and the panels (especially the bonnet) maybe galvanised (think stone chips not rusting). So you have a real challenge on your hands getting it to rust.

One team discovered that their bonnet was aluminum. Ali doesn't rust.

However, Team Malex excelled themselves in getting this bonnet to rust.

The event sticker (that won't stick) just adds to the effect as well.