Rat Rods showcase their builders’ creativity
The members of the West Side Rat Rod club of Dover recently showed off their vehicles at the Newcomerstown Cruise In. Pictured are Joe Linard and his daughter, Daisy, and Chad Smith, all of Dover.
At the most recent Newcomerstown Cruise In, the threat of rain limited participation, but it didn’t stop the Rat Rods. Once a haven for shiny cars in perfect condition, the roughly finished Rat Rods are increasingly seen at area car shows. The vehicles are a collection of various parts and pieces of cars and often unrelated metal items.
In the past the Newcomerstown Cruise In has had as many as 100 vehicles and usually always attracts participants from out of town and out of state.
“That’s a good thing for our community to have different people show up,” said Josh Beall, who organizes the car shows.
Beall started holding the car shows in 2020 to give the community something to do during the pandemic. The car show is a fundraiser too. The 50/50 drawing proceeds go to Toys for Tots. The shows are held at 641 Heller Drive in Newcomerstown from 2-5 p.m. in the warmer months. Upcoming car shows are scheduled for Aug. 7, Sept. 4 and Oct. 9.
The sponsors for the car shows are April’s Country Kitch’n, Brian Lowe of HER Realtors, Jim’s Towing, Hill Valley Auto, Mike’s Auto Body, Morgan Landscaping, Beach City Iron Works and Dobbins Aerial Photography.
The car shows are a place to hang out, get something to eat, and walk around and look at cars.
The show also welcomes motorcycles. Door prizes donated by Marstrell Auto Parts in Newcomerstown are given away, but the show is not judged.
“I don’t think anyone’s car should be judged. As long as you like it, that’s all that matters,” Beall said. “I don’t care if you’ve got an old car or a 2012 Prius. If you want to show up, you’ll have a good time.”
The area features a large lot to park the cars and a large, shaded area where participants can get out of the sun. A booth at the show sells sandwiches and other refreshments and Newcomerstown car show T-shirts. For those wanting a larger meal, April’s Country Kitch’n restaurant is right across the street. Music is played at the event.
Nothing is more popular among children than the collection of three Lightning McQueen vehicles owned by Robert Lawrence of Newcomerstown. A family of car enthusiasts, 7-year-old Alexander Chevy Dale Lawrence attends car shows with his father.
“This kid is a Lightning McQueen nut, and then I work for Jim’s Towing, which has Tow Mater. We do mostly stuff for charity for kids,” Robert Lawrence said of the reason for his collection.
The cars are always a popular attraction.
“Lots of people take pictures,” Alexander Lawrence said.
The Lawrences enjoy displaying the three Lightning McQueen themed vehicles at area charitable events and churches. Robert Lawrence is still working on the cars and said they are all a work in progress, but the skills he developed at a young age are put to good use.
“I started building cars at the age of 16, and before that, I built a lawn mower that could go 60 mph,” he said.
Car show visitors hear a lot of good stories.
Vince Knapp of Lexington displayed his 1939 Dodge Rat Rod truck at the show.
“I have been driving it for two years, and it took me four years to build it. It was in parts and pieces when I got it, and there was no floor on it, no chassis, no bed,” Knapp said.
In the bed of the vehicle is a Rat Rod minibike fashioned from a 1947 Dodge fender, the same type of fender that is on the truck. Other non-original add-ons include an old crosscut saw outside visor over the front window and running boards made from an old electrical box he found in the woods when he was cutting firewood.
He began building cars at the age of 14 with his father.
Knapp also had a car he built in 1982 on display, a Volkswagen dune buggy. He built the dune buggy and then sold it, but years later he bought the same vehicle back and restored it again.
Knapp enjoys visiting the Newcomerstown car shows.
“What Josh has done for this (abandoned parking) lot and community is great,” he said.
Metal artist Gordon Snyder of Beach City Iron Works car club said his thinking on designing Rat Rods is “a little Mad Max gone sideways.” He has many abstract items adorning the engine of his Rat Rod including a scorpion made from an old spark plug. His Rat Rod started out as a 1991 Dodge Dakota pickup truck. “Then I had a ‘41 Ford body, and I thought what the heck,” Snyder said.
It’s not your normal vehicle.
“The drive shaft is for the exhaust. The doors open up suicide (style), and the exhaust (pipe that runs along the bottom) stays with it. The radiator is in the back. That is what all this pipe is for,” Snyder said, pointing out some of the custom features.
The vehicle also includes some parts from a vintage tractor.
“There’s a little bit of everything going every direction,” Snyder said.
His grandchildren get into it, decorating Snyder’s vehicles with rat figures and other items.
“This car is number five, and I just finished number 11. One thing that I’m really proud of is the dash. Everything you do in a modern car is done on that,” Snyder said, pointing out some unique open circuits on the dash.
Snyder is never at a loss for material as people drop off unwanted scrap metal at his home.
Members of the West Side Rat Rods club of Dover were in attendance with their vehicles. One was a 1952 Ford pickup truck with a Chevy powered motor. The members of the club have built seven Rat Rods to date.
“I like this a lot better. It’s more fun; you can do whatever you want,” Joe Linard of Dover said. “Shiny paint causes stress. That’s my motto.”
Joe’s daughter, Daisy Linard, 16, is building her own Rat Rod, a 1941 Chevy cab on a 1949 frame, and it has a Chevy Inline-Six motor.
“When he started building Rat Rods about four years ago, it’s kind of where my interest started,” Daisy Linard said. “We went to a Rat Rod show in Missouri last year, and a couple from New Mexico decided they wanted to donate my cab to me to start my build. Our buddies from Wrenching for the Future got me into their group, and they’ve helped me along the way too.”
Wrenching for the Future is an organization based in Minnesota that hopes to go nationwide. Their purpose is to get children involved in mechanics.
“I started my project in February. This is the first time I’ve done most of the hands-on work myself. I do most of the welding, grinding, riveting, cutting and wrenching — whatever they tell me needs done. I’ve used the torch. They taught me to use a lot of tools,” Daisy Linard said.
Linard will need to have her Rat Rod finished by the end of August as the group will be headed to Nebraska for the High Plains Riot car show.
The Rat Rod style of car design, with its limitless use of unique items, is turning many vehicles into drivable works of art that can be seen at a car show or cruise-in near you.