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General => General discussion => Topic started by: tom26 on 11 January 2007, 12:35
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Whilst strolling around the No-rice meet at fleet services last night, i checked out a number of hoodride style Mk1's and caddy's. Even a few Mk2's in the Hoodride style were present. I personally quite like the wide steels and ATS classics on slightly dirty looking old rides! but, many people i speak to think it's a lazy approach to modding requiring not much effort to achieve the 'look'. Just interested to see what the rest of you think?
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This is what I think, but it's just my opinion, the "rat" look is ok on an old split camper, bay, a beetle, fastback etc etc, but the clean, restored ones will still get my attention more but the rat look does seem to work ok but even the air-cooled brigade seem to be getting p1ssed off with people getting rusty old sheds and hiding behind this look or trying to sell them for stupid money.
I personally would not be impressed with a rusty mk1, mk2 etc and again, the clean, subtle or well modded cars would always grab my attention first. Some people probably enjoy the look, some people are probably too lazy to be @rsed to clean them, but as with everything, it takes all sorts and it would be a poorer place if we all liked the same mods, cars etc.
This reminds me of a quick story though, at E38 last year we were walking around the main show ground and there were loads of people looking at and taking photos of a stupid clapped out old mk1 (I think it was rusty and yellow, or orange, can't rememeber) that had stickers over it, big holes in the wings etc etc and gtijoe turned round and said to me "Look at all the people around this and taking pics, yet look at this raddo, nice and clean, probably had a lot of time and effort put into it, yet noones even noticed it!". And to be fair to Joe, he had a point. :huh:
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Its funny is'nt it. You spend a fortune for people to notice your car and some pile of cr@p grabs the attention? Not sure how that works tbh?
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I personally quite like the look of some of these cars and it does sometimes surprise me the actual amount of effort some people go to to achieve the look. I guess its all down to personal taste and think these cars do have their place along with themed cars (taxi's etc). I think they are usually just a bit of fun but certainly not in the same league as some of the full blown show cars!
Gibby - i think i know exactly the mk1 & Rado you are on about!! The Rado was very tasty (on polished D90s, is that the one?) and the "please do not touch" sign in the mk1 made me chukle!
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I'm gonna go against the flow slightly hear and admit that I love the rat look. I do however think it only belongs in the aircooled world with the exception of the odd mk1 watercooled.
I agree that the rat look certainly doesn't work on a mk2 and most people would just view it as a tatty old car.
I disagree that the rat look is a lazy approach on an old aircooled though. I think the rat look only works when it really looks like the vehicle has had a long hard life and that's the resultant state. It must be a nightmare to keep a vehicle in such a rusty state but without letting it go over the threshold and it start falling apart/become unsafe to drive. Any repair work must be done carefully so as not to destroy the completely original unrestored look.
I can't stand the manufactured rat look though where people have obviously rubbed a load of paint of to promote rust etc. Proper rat look is something that only comes with time............preferably 40+ years of it.
At shows I can usually be found snapping away and loitering around any genuine rat look splitties etc I come across, they seem to hold far more appeal to me. I certainly love the look of a fully restored van and apprieciate all the work that goes into them but I prefer something that old to look its age.
As much as I love em though I still don't think I could ever own a rat look vehicle, all those little bits of rust would get the better of me and I'd be out there rubbing down and repainting.
At the end of the day, love the look but give me a shiny car/van for long term ownership anyday!!!
P.S. I admit to being one of those people snapping away at that orange rat look mk1 at E38. It had obviously been sat under a tree out of use for a Loooong time, there's no fabricating the look that thing had.
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The only rat look golf i'm truly a fan of
(http://www.dubmeister.co.uk/Gallery/ed38_2006/DSCN0784.jpg)
And you need to know the owner to fully understand why. Otherwise.. yeah, leave it to the aircooled brigade.
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Like everything else the RAT look originated with Hot Rods in the USA. It has been around a very long time. The air-cooled lot over there copied it then it came across here!
Why do we have to be sheep all the time?
In my opinion it does not belong on any modern car.
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Why do we have to be sheep all the time?
Don't get it, who's being a sheep ? :huh:
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In my opinion it does not belong on any modern car.
I agree that it would be daft on a mk3/4/5/corrado etc but would not exactly class mk1/2 as modern, i think it can work on these cars....... :undecided:
I hardly think that it would class as being sheep, everyone builds there own car to their own taste but it always seems to get classed under a certain look whatever you do (brit look, euro look, rat look etc etc) and how often do you see something totally original?
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Why do we have to be sheep all the time?
Don't get it, who's being a sheep ? :huh:
Good question :undecided:
There's hardly anything you can do to a mk1/2 golf these days that hasn't already been done. Why are the people that go down the Rat Look route sheep? Surely that would make the people that just lower them and put an exhaust on etc sheep aswell.
I must be a sheep. Baaa
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It is being sheep like.
It is following a trend that orininated on a totally different type of car and people thinking ooooh I could do that to mine.
Its not original.
It does not fit on any vehicle newer than say the 60's - so Beetles and Campers just creep in.
It was originally on 30's and 40's styled Hot Rods.
Yes you are all little Baaaaaa lambs!
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Not much ever is original. Even when a new car comes out and has never been modified the first thing people do is try out "old" styles to see what works.
It's very rare that something completely new is done to a car. So even all of these amazing cars that supposedly push the boundaries are copying someone else. We are all sheep. Including you Len!
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It is being sheep like.
It is following a trend that orininated on a totally different type of car and people thinking ooooh I could do that to mine.
Its not original.
It does not fit on any vehicle newer than say the 60's - so Beetles and Campers just creep in.
It was originally on 30's and 40's styled Hot Rods.
Yes you are all little Baaaaaa lambs!
surely people are therefore trying to be original by taking a styling trend from a different ere/style of cars and then trying to apply it to something more modern rather than following the normal trends associated with that type of car?? :undecided:
arrgh now im even confusing myself.......
Baaaaa :grin:
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It is being sheep like.
It is following a trend that orininated on a totally different type of car and people thinking ooooh I could do that to mine.
Putting my pedantic head on the above doesn't make sense, being a sheep is following the crowd yeah, so if someone started it on a totally different type of car then surely they would make them inovators for that type rather than sheep. :wink: :grin:
Does this mean because stone age man carved up some animal skin to cover his feet, then that makes us sheep for wearing shoes ? :undecided: :rolleyes:
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whoa. hope i haven't started too much of an argument here! having read all the posts so far, looks like some very valid points are being made.
i don't think the sheep comment is entirely fair though. Are we not all guilty of taking ideas from rides we admire?
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Hey only I'm allowed to be pedantic - according to joe! :wink: :laugh:
TBH I just dont like the Rat look! Not on anything!
Even Ozz's car - I kept thinking how good it would look with a decent paint job and a nice interior!
Daz I may well become a sheep if I put a body kit on mine!
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whoa. hope i haven't started too much of an argument here! having read all the posts so far, looks like some very valid points are being made.
i don't think the sheep comment is entirely fair though. Are we not all guilty of taking ideas from rides we admire?
Just trying to educate these heathens of the origins of the Rat look and why it doesnt suit modern cars.
Therefore any attempt to do it it on any modern car is mindlessly following a trend which is sheeplike!
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It's also because Len enjoys a (mass)debate.
...and because he's a sheep...bodykit :rolleyes:
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i think this 'sheep' lark depends on exactly wat len means.
now if your talkin about people who just follow a trend or style cause its 'in' at the moment, without actually thinkin about what they like, then i think your right, it takes no originality or imigination to copy other ideas only cause its what seems to be popular at the moment.
however, just because someone sticks to a certain style, and a certain look of car... that doesnt automatically make them a sheep, IMO its about taking inspiration from cars and look u like and creating something that u think reflects you... rather than doing what everyone else is doing in an attempt to 'fit in'
as for the rat look... it can be effective, i love ozz's mk1, and there is a green / grey camper rolling round me with faded surf / cali stickers in the windows... it just fits! but when it is produced rat, rather than natural aging, it can go so so wrong.
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any attempt to do it it on any modern car is mindlessly following a trend which is sheeplike!
What if the person doing it happens to like that particular style and feels it says something about them as a person (and I don't mean it says they like to copy stuff). Does that make them a sheep?
Mase got it right - if you like something then do it. If not then don't. The only true sheep are the one's that have to have the latest mod because everyone else just happens to be doing it aswell.
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It's also because Len enjoys a (mass)debate.
For once I wasnt tyring to provoke a debate - I was expressing my view.
I then went on to explain the origins of the Rat Look.
On some of those cars it just about looks right. To me it doesnt work on any other type of vehicle, or maybe a Tank or some other Military or ulitarian vehicle.
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good topic tom! well my opinion has been expressed by gibby!
its not that i don't like some of the rat/hoodride cars i just think at shows its a shame for those who have plowed hours of time and effort into making their car a nice example, are easily overlooked by someone with a crappy car and a roll or two of fablon!
i also think that alot of the people with these 'different' cars aeemt o have the attitude that they're doing something wacky and that makes them special and those that "don't get it" are missing the point.
i "get" that its a novelty thing, i get that its fun, i get that not everyone can afford to make a uber bling show winner etc etc etc i just don't see how bolting a load of kitsch crap to your car makes it rat look or hoodride because you put some stencils on it.
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I can see both sides of it
We all modify (the majority of us here dont have a totaly stadered car) to suit what we as people are like , what we interperet how we would have had VW build one for us if we were in charge
this goes for the RAT/Hoodride owners too , manybo they are a bit off the wall of just like kitch temselves
many time ive been asked why i change al the cars i own , and i try and put it in the kinda perspective of , we dont all live in identical houses with identical furnature or eat identical food , some people like minimalist some people like the place filled with crap . Come on even mobile phone had different ringtones so you can pick one that you like
As for weather they are stylish or not ? well if people are happy to run round in rusty (or sometimes faux rust) cars with orniments and stickers all over them so be it , ill apreciate that work wil lhave gone into it and there owner enjoys it and the attention it gets , peronally i love the OEM look really well built quite understated with mods that you dont see until you start looking . But then again i also like a balls out stripped racer
I dunno , Each to there own , who am i to judge someone
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Personally i like all different types of dubs. but i agree with what joe said for instance, at E38 last year i dunno if any of you can remember this car,
(http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/1391/hoodridepolohb7.jpg)
it got loads of attention for being a sketchy camo polo but there was stunning clean rides going up and down that ramp and people where just turning a blind eye because they have seen it all befour. I think thats kinda why people go for the hoodride/rat look because they want to be noticed and they know they will be by adding bits and bobs to the cars. good on them if thats what they want to do but i know personally i would love my car looking pristine and pimped but thats just me.
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I see Rat as a bit of fun, that's all. Some of them do look good/make ya chuckle.
They look a bit rubbish when the look is too forced though.
I don't see them as 'proper' show cars though.
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I see Rat as a bit of fun, that's all. Some of them do look good/make ya chuckle.
They look a bit rubbish when the look is too forced though.
I don't see them as 'proper' show cars though.
Succinctly put ! :afro: Some of them do put a smile on my face, but for about 10 seconds and then I'm bored. :laugh: It will all be over when a rat watercooled car is on the front of one of the big mags. :cry:
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Did a bit of checking and remembered a bit I missed.
One of the essential parts of the Rat Look is channelling. This is where the body is cut and lowered below the chassis. As this cant be done to any modern monocoque construction cars there is no way they can be considered rat look.
Sorry to bore everyone with facts!
So any so called ratlook modern car just makes me laugh and why I called it sheeplike as it for those of low intelligence.
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Il igree with Gibby here, partially coz he is much bigger than me, but mainly coz he has summed it up totally. I like the rat look on some cars, but only to look at and think, ok that looks different, but Id never drive it! If we do eventually see a rat look car on the cover of one of the mags then there are problems. I can think of nothing better than an old mk1 or 2 cleaned right up and made to look new again. Subtle and smooth is the way to go.
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****Martz is of to build Roland! :wink:*****
And no, its not the Rallye - But that would be different eh?
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Must admit I love the rat look, but thats not to say I'd ever buy/own/drive one :smiley: Probably goes back to my younger days watching a really badly beat up nova skin the arse off my mates calibra turbo...
I think its interesting to note a few comments made about the air-cooled brigade getting annoyed at the rats grabbing all the attention. Who cares? Do some people really think that when they go to shows others will be blowing sunshine up their back-sides because of how their car looks? How sad IMO...
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I think Stealth / 'Q' cars are more interesting than Rats, Like standard looking Mk2s with blown R32 lumps!
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Nothing better than a sleeper
Even a tatty (not rat) just used looker with a rapid lump in it
Or a very tidy well presented car with an equally rapid lump
i remember having a very very quick Howley 1360 grass track engine in a mini of mine , did 14MPG with a huge weber 45 on the back but would wipe the floor with almost anythin :grin:
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I think Stealth / 'Q' cars are more interesting than Rats, Like standard looking Mk2s with blown R32 lumps!
:shocked: dude..... :evil: now thats an idea.
personally for me i love the standardesque - euro look, if that makes any sence... useable as a daily car, but smooth bumpers, all colour coded, classy set of wheels, that sort of thing!
if u want a crotch rocket.... get a bike :evil: i like my cars to look good.
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I think its interesting to note a few comments made about the air-cooled brigade getting annoyed at the rats grabbing all the attention. Who cares? Do some people really think that when they go to shows others will be blowing sunshine up their back-sides because of how their car looks? How sad IMO...
You kind of missed the point really, I said that the air-cooled brigade were p1ssed off with people hiding behind the look, e.g. it's a fooked beetle with holes all over and rusty so I'll say it's rat look. :wink: I also mentioned that rats grabbed the attention at a watercooled event not air-cooled .i.e. mk1 at E38. If shows had nothing but rat look cars would the show survive ? Answer is no, of course not. People like to see and appreciate nice shiney cars, well restored/modded/original and looked after, that's a fact, so I'm not actually sure what your last lines means to be honest. :huh:
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If its a taste thing id rather have no f**king paint than have 5 doors :evil: :evil: Sick in my f**king mouth :sick: :sick: :sick: :sick: :sick: :sick: :sick: :sick: :sick: :sick: