Vegas Rat Rods

I hope Steve's insurance is up to scratch because the show portrays a custom rat rod shop that is a complete Occupational Heath & Safety nightmare. How someone has not lost a finger, toe or eye, I've no idea.

But perhaps that part of the idea, the notion of customizing the cars to give them the Mad Max / steampunk / post-apocalyptic feel of a rat rod also requires a certain level of commensurate potential disaster in the shop as well.

The show itself is entertaining, focusing on just one car per episode and also being about 40+ minutes per episode allows a lot of interaction with the staff & shows what happens on the build & how they get their parts etc. However, OH&S issues aside, the crew at Welderup seem to take great pride in building a safe to drive rat rod.

You watch a show like this, not to be inspired to build a rat rod in your kitchen, but to be entertained with people that are not boring & cars that are not being (although if you're a hot rod purist, you may be horrified). And on this level, Vegas Rat Rods succeeds.

Are rat rods just a phase or here to stay? No idea, but Steve Darnell does rightly call himself the Picasso of the car world, so if you want a Picasso for your car, Steve Darnell's your man, if you want a pre-Raphelite, go see Danny Koker at Counts Customs ("Counting Cars", an interesting show in its own right).

Though I'm waiting for the day when they customize a Telsa Model S, now that would be a challenge....