Page 36 - Issue 33

WHEN YOU BUILD A CAR
for the largest stage in the country, it
has to be right. In our case, it has to
somehow represent at least a large
part of rat rod culture. To that point,
RRM Head Builder Bryan Dagel put
his mad scientist hat on and went to
work. This 1935 Chevy highboy is an
example of the old-meets-new mix that
has really become prevalent in today’s
rat rod market. Safety, durability, and
road-worthiness have become absolute
priorities – and this car was built with
that in mind. Not only will this car make
an appearance at the SEMA Show in
November, but it will have been driven
the whole way and back. No trailers, no
fl uff – just a good old fashioned road
trip. (So Bryan might have to kick off
some bugs at the show… big deal.)
The real statement behind this car
and what Rat Rod Magazine represents
at SEMA, is that we’re all in this together.
Car lovers. Historians. Conservationists.
Everything blends together somewhere,
and we all just become “car guys.”
Rat rodding has brought the thrill
of the build and the drive back to a
demographic that for the most part
can’t play with $50k cars. And even if
they can, a rat rod or patina’d pickup
represent a care-free, FUN, adventurous
functionality that can’t be replicated
in a full-on restoration. And people are
taking notice.
Can we connect the care-free road-
tripping rusty and patina’d fun with the
safety and durability of new parts? We
sure can. We can do it creatively, on a
budget, and then we can get out there
and drive the wheels off it. The ’35 is a
testament to the growing rat rod scene
– a scene that has become a bigger part
of the hot rod scene in general than
we ever imagined. True blue-collar hot
rodding is back and there is a renewed
passion for vintage cars like many of us
have not seen in a long time.
Here is our 2015 offering.

36 RAT ROD MAGAZINE ISSUE THIRTY-THREE

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