Antique & Classic Cars Blog

Creativity is busting the fences outta the fairgrounds, yet a few things manage to stand out. How about these rat rods that sit on the ground. Not sit on the ground like ‘how do they clear speed bumps?’ No. Sit on the ground like… Sit. On the ground.

This Farmall-fronted rod sits pretty low. Does it drop till it stops, pavement level? Dunno. Owner wasn’t around. Way sweet though. Whatever fields he crossed, ticks he braved, barns he peaked in and parts, dollars, dogs or tools he traded for the pieces was worth it.

Chad Kolman was relaxing in a folding chair behind his Unlucky Speed Shop rod. And it was on the ground. Sitting. Couple secrets for doing that. Air lift is one. Gets this eye-grabber up to a couple inches clear for lapping the fairgrounds. She’ll go 7 up, plenty for any sane driving. Not that all of it’s that. I asked if it did highway speeds–dumb question given the Kansas plate. He’s had it up to 130, so the answer’s yeah.

The other secret is a frame rail dropped 16 inches behind the motor and channeled into the body. That’s what allows it to sit on the ground.

This rod started with a body he bought here last year. Hauled it back to Kansas City behind his ’55 Olds. Built this prize in 5 months, with help from ace-welder friend, John Vestel. Apart from the welding—some of which Kolman did after some lessons from Vestel—this one’s all Chad.

Lotsa people tried to give him ideas on what to do and he told ’em all no. He had in his mind exactly what he wanted. Pretty good mental sketchpad, Chad. He’s buildin’ two more. If we’re lucky (or Unlucky), they’ll make the fairgrounds.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 23rd, 2007 at 6:07 pm and is filed under Back to the 50s, Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.