2007 Bone Shaker

Official Participant of "The 2009 Cannonball Run". I am competing with other cars in a cross country race from the namesake cache GC1ZFRR in Wilmington, NC to "Sneaky Snake" GCNPCK in Barstow, CA. For full details and a list of all of the participants visit "The Cannonball Run" cache page at www.geocaching.com under code GC1ZFRR

I might be one of the smallest in the Cannonball Run, but that makes me easier to place in future cache sites. Pick me up and help me on my way.
Originally a counter-reaction to the traditional hot rod, a label recently applied to undriven cars and super high priced "customs". The rat rod's beginning was a throwback to the hot rods of the earlier days of hot-rodding, built to the best of the owner's abilities and meant to be driven. Rat rods are meant to loosely imitate in form and function, the "traditional" hot rods of the era. Biker, greaser, rockabilly, and punk culture is often credited as influence that shapes rat-rodding.

The typical rat rod (an early 1920s through 1950s coupe or roadster): Early (pre-World War II) vehicles often have their fenders, hoods, running boards, and bumpers removed. The bodies are frequently channeled over the frame, and sectioned, or the roofs chopped for a lower profile. Later post-war vehicles are rarely constructed without fenders and are often customized in the fashion of Kustoms, leadsleds, and lowriders. Maltese crosses, skulls, and other accessories are often added. Chopped tops, shaved trim, grills, tail lights, and other miscellaneous body parts are swapped between makes and models. Most, if not all of the work and engineering is done by the owner of the vehicle.

Recently, the term "rat rod" (or rat car as modern cars are not actually hot rods like the name suggests) has been used to describe almost any vehicle that appears unfinished or is built simply to be driven.