Page 5 - Issue 48

Where’s your

“sentimental

longing?”

If it’s somewhere in a shop, hands covered with grease – surrounded by
the smell of steel and all the familiar visceral sensations associated with
the excitement of hands-on creation – the ones we feel with our soul –
if that’s your happy place… welcome.
If it’s somewhere out on the open road – the sound of the engine, it’s
vibrations merging with every cell in your body – the wind mixed with
exhaust mixed with freedom – the thrill of adventure - if that’s your happy
place… welcome.
If it’s somewhere in a forgotten time, maybe post-war America where hot
rodding became a lifestyle or any period of automotive history – when
steel was STEEL and things were built by hand – if that’s your happy
place… welcome.
These things are not lost.

Sometimes this world can feel very sterile, and very cheap. The constant
pursuit of MORE… more technology, faster, sleeker… more houses, more
factories, more distribution centers… more medicine, more politics, more
money. Often at the expense of quality. The world wants instant
gratifi cation. It wants what it wants NOW – immediately.
But in this chaotic rat race – this world of continual motion – nostalgia
lives. We’re still connected to our past enough to recognize, appreciate,
and truly enjoy the same things generations before us enjoyed. Right now
– RIGHT NOW – you can build a vehicle in your garage and drive it across
the country. You can build anything you want. You can express every
piece of your personality and your individuality. You can create the same
kind of moments your father did… your grandfather… your grandfather’s
father. You can recreate those same experiences.
We see it every day. EVERY DAY. Every aspect of rat rod culture.
Our little piece of the hot rod scene is connecting past and present with
a certain fl air that is undeniably cool. Last issue we explored the extreme,
over-the-top, and the most aggressive rat rods we’ve ever featured.
Now, we take a look at rat rods that pay homage to hot-rodding’s storied
past in a more “traditional” way. If you don’t feel that nostalgic tinge in
your gut when fl ipping through this issue – or any issue of Rat Rod
Magazine - you might not be human. While the world may move on –
nostalgia keeps us dreaming, remembering, and creating. RAT ON.

—Steve

RATRODMAGAZINE.COM RAT ROD MAGAZINE 5

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