Hot Rod Sketches

 This week I did a couple hot rod sketches based on a couple photos I took at a car show years ago.

This first one is something many people might call a "rat rod" because it is rusty.  However, that is not correct, this is just a traditional hot rod that hasn't been fully finished with a shiny paint job.  Originally this is basically what the term "rat rod" meant, however rat rods have morphed into caricatures of traditional hot rods, to the point of almost becoming "art cars" though much of the time bad art, cars.

This second sketch is of a very unusual and creative hot rod. Someone uninformed might call this one a rat rod as well however it is anything but.  First it is powered by a Packard straight eight engine with a centrifugal supercharger. A Packard engine in a rat rod is not unheard of but adding a supercharger requires significant engineering and in this case the execution is superb. In fact that's what sets this hot rod apart, the craftsmanship.  No, there is no shiny paint, no polished billet parts but there is a ton of inventive fabrication that is done to a high level. This is definitely not a rat rod.