rat look cars yes or no

thats not a rat though , its a hot rod . bare metal dont mean a rat , its far too shiney .

Basically mate a rat is a something that loolks like a pile of dog but is still cool .  usually slammed beyond the point of being able to handle with very nice shiney wheels . there is as with euro - old skool - hotrod - retro - bad boy-jap-and cross over styles no hard and fast rules but generalisations that people asociate with each one. the most popular at the moment being cross overs between retro , old skool and euro .

well u learn something everyday……..


now i know its intentional i can see the owners view….but still looks more like abit of car history than modding fashion

Can't stand the look - why would you deliberatly neglect or abuse a classic like that?

Just don't get it….

o  8O

here is the car im going to make in to a rat look its just some thing diffrent it will be slam'd 80m has a bit of rust and few dent but runs mint geting a weber carb as its a 1.8 carb gl has all the chrome bits on and the bumpers i know it's not a mk1 but i would never rat a mk1 it cost me ?300 with 3 owners and only 72,000 on the clock im going to spray the p slots black  and want a checked roof

I LOVE rat look! :mrgreen:   

 Obviously its stupid to MAKE a car look ratty, but if you have a car and its already a bit rough around the edges, then its a very cool alternative if you cant afford to resto it 8)  8)  8)

I dont like that blue mk1 though, for me it has to have wide rims 8)









Joel you need to make your mk2 look like this one 8)  :mrgreen:



This is the same car

Mr_GTI said

What a load of rubbish  I really can't see the point in making your car look awful on purpose :dontknow:
Deffo a big NO NEVER from me :roll:

Agree with Danny.

I find it difficult to believe people who do it really appreciate the car for what it is, even in the aircooled scene. Most of it is just tat stuck on the car.

Personally mate i wouldnt rat that car . slamm it into next week yeah , checkerd roof na .

Again this is what makes dubbing interisting , ignore all of us and do what u want to with it !!! besides its only a mk2 .

maybe matt black would work ???

dubboy said

Mr_GTI said

What a load of rubbish  I really can't see the point in making your car look awful on purpose :dontknow:
Deffo a big NO NEVER from me :roll:

Agree with Danny.

I find it difficult to believe people who do it really appreciate the car for what it is, even in the aircooled scene. Most of it is just tat stuck on the car.

What makes you say that ?

What makes you think the owners/drivers of such vehicles don't enjoy them as much as people who spend all their time polishing and poncing about.

Very strange thing to say ???

I think you'll find that the original question was for an opinion whether you like the rat look or not.  Danny and Rajan were offering their opinion on rat look cars.

I personally enjoy "polishing and poncing :roll: "  about.  I dont like the rat look.  That is my opinion.

You are clearly a fan of the rat look along with a great many others, that is your opinion and you're entitled to that.

Nuff said

The mk1 and mk2 rats seem to work better with square head lamps , having said that tho i reckon the mk2 above looks more euro`d than rat .

I love Rat Cars  :mrgreen:

I however agree with the sentiment that it doesn't make sense to 'rat' a sound car!

The finish on the car doesn't affect someones enjoyment, I LOVED my old mk1 and that was ratty, not by choice, but by weather and age! most reliable car i've ever had  :mrgreen:

rat look is dope

Shat looking my polo as we speak!

ew said

I think you'll find that the original question was for an opinion whether you like the rat look or not.  Danny and Rajan were offering their opinion on rat look cars.

I personally enjoy "polishing and poncing :roll: "  about.  I dont like the rat look.  That is my opinion.

You are clearly a fan of the rat look along with a great many others, that is your opinion and you're entitled to that.

Nuff said

No, not  " nuff said " actually, seeing as you misunderstood my post.

I just don't think anyone can question someone elses commitment to their car/scene etc just because they don't have shiny vehicle/no rust/patina whatsoever.

Like i said, it seems like an odd angle to take on it.

I thought we were all in this together??

Lets not make it personal, It was an opinion that was asked for no one's being narrow minded or boring if they don't like it. I hate it and think it looks awful but i'm not saying that other people are wrong - its their car to do what they want with. If you like it fine, but don't knock others for their view or opinions, if we were all the same we'd be driving a really dull cars with no club scene at all, you need a mix to make thing work.

ratlook rules. i think most of you are missing the point though. it is not about making your car into a ratter. most of the decent aircooled rats are barn finds that havnt been driven for 30 years and hence look like a piece of poo, re worked underneath and voila! i have a gti waiting to go on the road in this situation(not 30 years) and will be proud to call it a rat. my current daily gti is also something of a rat due to the way it is used and abused both on and OFF the road. long may the hoodride live!

Gold-mk1 said

dubboy said

Mr_GTI said

What a load of rubbish  I really can't see the point in making your car look awful on purpose :dontknow:
Deffo a big NO NEVER from me :roll:

Agree with Danny.

I find it difficult to believe people who do it really appreciate the car for what it is, even in the aircooled scene. Most of it is just tat stuck on the car.

What makes you say that ?

What makes you think the owners/drivers of such vehicles don't enjoy them as much as people who spend all their time polishing and poncing about.

Very strange thing to say ???

Firstly I didn't say that rat owners don't enjoy their cars. Clearly they do, otherwise they would not do it.

What I did say was that they may not appreciate the car. For example the "swamp cooler" mentioned earlier in the post. They were fitted to air cooled models to allow fresh air into the cabin as the only other decent ventilation was use of the opening quarterlights that were not fitted to all models and even then not much use at speed as they often flapped shut. Now every Mk1 was fitted with a fan blower as standard, so why the need to put an obviously non-period part on a Mk1? You would not fit one to a Mk5 so why a Mk1? Same story with white wall tyres - these are from before the '70s!

As Danny said its just my opinion and people can do what they like.

Nothing againt rusty cars that the owner cannot get parts for / cannot afford to restore or it just is not financially viable. I love to see an honest Mk1 as much as a shiny one.

To deliberately make your Mk1 look rusty/tatty is like smearing mud on a Rembrandt.

ratlook is a lifestyle.To me Rat is a sort of mishmash of of stolen parts and diy bodywork and mad genius. Everyone has they opinion on whats ratlook and it' changed alot since it's roots in the 40's and 50's. What's kitch????



pic of my rat caddy at vwnw




black matt rat swallow at vwnw

To deliberately make your Mk1 look rusty/tatty is like smearing mud on a Rembrandt.

Now THAT i do agree with, for me its all about patterns that have built up over time. haha, i suppose a cool rat car is something you have to work on over time not just chuck together to go to run to the sun etc…  

and NO, you wouldn't put a swamp cooler on a mk5….

but i think its almost essential on a tin top mk 1 in 35 degree heat !  

I dont mind either way really, but as mentioned in an earlier reply
I think its a "Lifestyle", and its why a lot of celebs try to copy it
and give a false impression, eg: Jamie Oliver driving around in
a VW camper or Jonathan Ross driving an Isetta Bubble car etc.. etc..
these people and many "Ratters" have the time,money & skills to build
a concourse vehicle but regard it as "Bling". (if you se what I mean).

I have got 1 clean MK1 and one thats been dragged off a field that
looks like a Rat ride! but ime trying to reverse the process  8O

Only my humble opinion and I dont want to upset anyone!   :wink:

All the best

Dibbler

This has turned up at a few shows over here during the summer, bar the wheels, engine and few other bits :wink: it is exactly as it was when he pulled it out of a collapsed shed, all the dents rust etc are the result the car being used as a farm car for years.

I love it