Not everybody can afford to do a proper hot rod. All-steel cars are commanding money, even for basket cases, and kit cars are already pricey, a result of the late-1980s to early-1990s demand. But what do you do if your budget is more beer than champagne? Use what you have. We’ve seen VW Beetles get the hot-rod treatment, and we’ve seen several that pull it off really well, mostly because the curved lines of the VW look similar to the curved roofs of early cars.
The Chevrolet S-10 is not curvy. It’s a box with a bed, and it serves it’s purpose in life just fine. But there’s always somebody out there who wants to push the limits of acceptability, someone with a vision of what they want to achieve, and that vision has led to what you see here. Originally a 1991 Chevrolet, it’s now a cut-down and cut-up vision of a late-model hot rod. As much as it pains me to say this, most of it looks well-done. Power comes from what’s claimed to be a Grand National’s 3.8L V6, but a suspicion inside me thinks it’s really one of the 1991 S-10’s factory engines. If it’s a 4.3L, then there’s potential, since they are a 350 missing two cylinders. If it’s the 2.8L, there’s just sadness.
Inside the “miminal but functional” theme continues, and again, it’s not as bad as you’d expect. This isn’t an absolute hack, the owner has made an effort to put together a useable vehicle. But neon lighting in the dash frame would have to go, regardless of the case. With a Buy It Now price of $4,300, what do you think: it it good enough to be used or has this hot-rodded S-10 gone way too far?
Ebay Link: 1991 Chevrolet S-10 Custom Hot Rod
Kinda horrible?
I’ve taken craps that looked better than that, and that’s all I have to say about that!!!
Even though it’s a cursed Chevy it is sooooooooooooooo sick!
Not. (and it’s not even worth further comments)
Anything based on a Chevy S10 is definitely … NOT … cool . This one being particularly .. NOT cool . It looks like the south end of a diarrhea inflicted north bound mule . e.g. Pure and blatant BS … and I don\’t mean BangShift … 😉
Kill it with fire
RALPH
Donor frame for a 49-54 truck swap.
Very much NO. Not a big fan of any Rat Rods though.
Anyone who would build or buy this should be committed to an insane asylum.
It’s not so bad, best use of an S10 that I’ve seen..
Look at this:
http://tinyurl.com/muto562
I dont hate it. I hate when other people talk down about other peoples projects though. It was there own vision whether anyone else likes it or not. That being said the owner should be more realistic about his asking price.
I hold to the general consensus of the group that the styling questionable, but it’s far from horrific and certainly not unacceptable.
Mechanically, I like what’s going on. First-Gen S10s borrow a lot from G-body land, so it’s reasonable that alot of what you can do to a Cutlass or Grand National can be done here. That opens up some great options to any rodder.
I like that the builder kept the v6, even more so if it’s the much-maligned 60* six, because it’s both different and keeping the truck’s running gear intact. By all means a 350\350 swap could have happened, but it didn’t and that flies in the face of what many Chevy hotrodders would do. I enjoy seeing something that goes against the grain.
Were I building something similar, I probably would have abstained a bit from the rat rod styling, and probably have bobbed and shortened a factory bed in the back instead of the deck, and a Peterbilt radiator hoop from the 60s would look nice up front. Other than that, I’d probably supercharge an Iron Duke 4-banger up front just to keep the mini-truck theme going. Otherwise, there are some really neat ideas at play here.
definitely not a 4.3 v6, 4.3’s have the distributor in the back
Yep, I think this is most likely the stock 60-degree v6, or maybe the BOP 6 from from a Grand National like the ad says.
I really hope this “ratrod” junk fade goes away soon so we don’t have to take about junk cars any more
How can you not like it? Anyone who knows the history of hot rods, also knows that the original hot rods more closely resembled rat rods than any other automotive genre. All those who made negative comments about S-10’s are ether idiots or don’t understand the history of hot rods. Back in the ’50’s, old model T’s and model A’s were the equivalent of today’s S-10’s – Used up utility vehicles that were plentiful, cheap and easy to modify and work on.
Is it cool? Absolutely! Anything you can build cheap (the asking price notwithstanding) and have fun with, is cool. What isn’t cool? Anything that can be described as a “super car”. What creativity and mechanical sense does spending a shitload of money require?
A rat rod cannot be accurately described as junk if it is cheap, safe, and fun to drive. Junk is something that either has no value or even worse, loses value. A Bugatti is about the biggest piece of junk out there because it turns a quarter of a million dollars into less than one hundred thousand dollars in just a few years. Only the federal government can do worse with your money.
You Sir are officially one of the few people on this earth who would take a “rat-rodded 80s S10 over a Bugatti. Speaking of I would say that you’d be hard pressed to find any real Bugatti (esp. a Veyron, which it seems like your referencing) for south of 100k. Not putting you down, just keeping it real. Also I think the original (ie early 50s) Hot Rodders would frown on the over chopped, extreme patina-ed, caricatures of hot rodding culture. Their do dads and rebar spider webs add no speed. To each his own. Everyone has their own taste, I even like some rat rods, but this revisionist history trend has to stop.
I totally agree with you about the history of hot rodding. If this is an entry level build for a young person, I definitely support this over another Honda with a fart pipe. That being said, it’s not my cup of tea but if you dropped a 50’s Chevy truck on the frame, then were talking about something I would like to build.
The distributor location tells the tale, a Buick V6.
The vehicle is a 10,000 kinds of awful.
Cool? HELL NO!!!
I love love love ratrods. This is an abomination to the genre. I’m not hating on the guy. He had some cool ideas, but this just isn’t a ratrod. This is….blah..oh and BTW…comparing a ratrod/hotrod to a Bugatti is silly.
A true hot rod! It’s using today’s truck with available parts. The distributor is in the front as is the oil filter. Probably is a Buick 3.8L engine.
Well done, although there are snobs and non builders who would disagree.