RAT LOOK

So we have this new guy at work, wasn't long until we started talking about our interests and anything not to do with work. Turns out he is into this cult following called Rat Look. He showed me some photos and gave me a breif run down on the history of this amazing autmotive lifestyle.

Anyway I convinced him to give me some words to add to these shrelpin images.

Thanks Adrian "NEW GUY" Knowles

The accepted version of a RAT LOOK is original as possible, low as possible.

This is what attracts me here, to this particular sub culture if you like. I can drag a car out of a paddock and trick it around a little, and people admire it for what it is. Or in the other extreme, I can turn a normal car into something that makes people look twice. I admire the fact that it is different. I think this is what perception is about... Where the term RAT ROD came from is a hotly debated topic, some claim it was coined by a German hot rod magazine and some say it has been around since just after WW2 when returning army men started hot rodding and putting big engines in old fords and dodge’s that were abandoned. The term was then taken on by the Volkswagen community to describe a growing trend in California and England of keeping a Volkswagens paint as original as possible and fully restoring the chassis and massively lowering the suspension and running gear. Since the late 90’s the trend has spread like wild fire and is now one of the most popular sub cultures in the Volkswagen scene and this sub culture is now termed RAT LOOK.

It seems Melbourne the place of most things considered hip has become the Australian Mecca for the RAT LOOK scene in Australia. Even to the point were there is a website forum dedicated to the scene. www.melburgluft.com. Although the scene is alive and well in Brisbane these cars are looked at as rusted heaps by the general public, only a select few know how much time and work go into these cars.