Rat rod
Parked between a shiny green Camaro and a remodeled '63 Mustang, a 1929 Ford Model A pickup-turned-hot rod is a mosaic of rust and rot. A rag plugs the radiator, and ancient wooden slats border the truck bed. The car looks fresh from the junkyard, and hardly at home with such classy competitors at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center's Hot Rides Car Show.
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| Photo: Calla Cofield |
But the car's owner, Jeff Jones, stands self-assured next to what is known around SLAC as the Rat Rod. To him, the car is exactly what he wants it to be. He proudly declares, "It's a work of art."
Jones is the precision sheet metal engineer at SLAC. Two years ago he pulled the truck body out of a friend's yard, planning to turn it into a hot rod. The Rat Rod has certainly met that expectation: It can go 120 mph before the front wheel starts to wobble, and it's been known to out-race a Harley Davidson. But along the way the car became more than a test of engineering—it turned into Jones' personal canvas "That car is me," he says. "It's a little different; I've always been a little different. I made myself my car."
Looking closely, one can see symmetric designs drilled into the rusting doors and hood—Jones' own handiwork. Antique Coca Cola serving trays function as floor boards, an oversized bullet plugs the overflow tank, and safety pins keep the spark-plug wires together. The cable bracket is a silver spoon. "I had the stock bracket," he says with a shrug. "It was just too normal." The words "Straight 2 Hell," borrowed from the title of a Hank Williams III album, are fading from the doors, but are still bold enough to proclaim the car's attitude.
The Rat Rod has won three car-show awards, most notably the Chrome and Suede Award at a Good Guys show, where it was the only car in the winners' circle without a paint job. To Jones, the car is complete. "People still ask me what color I'm going to paint it," he laughs, "but it's done." Then he pauses and adds, "Except for front brakes. And seat belts. It should have seat belts."
Calla Cofield
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