ratrod

An unceremoniously modified old car, jalopy or rough hot rod. Ratrods are eternally works-in-progress, unpainted or primered, with special reverence paid to pre 1960's American iron, Yankee ingenuity, reckless driving, drag racing, juvinile deliquency and shade tree engineering. The driver smokes, his ballast looks like Betty Page, and he has a fortune tied-up in scratch.