Featured Hot Rods and Other Roadkillers

Hot rods, typically old, classic American cars with large engines modified for linear speed. Yep!

1937 Ford 3-Inch Chop Top Time-Lapse by Mike Bello at Bello’s Kustoms

October 14, 2021 Roadkill Customs Builds and Examples

See the tools and techniques Mike Bello at Bello’s Kustoms uses to create a nice flowing roof out of a 3-inch chop on a 1937 Ford. [More…] Also of Interest: DIY Hot Rod Chop Top [More...]

1957 Chevy 4-Door Hard Top To 2-Door Convertible Conversion

Building a ’57 Bel Air 2-Door Convertible From a Cheap 4-Door Hardtop

October 5, 2021 Roadkill Customs Builds and Examples, Low Budget Builds

DD Speed Shop is converting a cheap ’57 Chevy Bel Air four door hardtop parts car into a two door convertible cruiser. [More…] Also of Interest: The Cheapest ’57 Chevy Bel Air Convertible — $5K [More...]

The origin of the term “hot rod” is unclear. For example, some claim that the term “hot” refers to the vehicle being stolen. Other origin stories include replacing the engine’s camshaft or “rod” with a higher performance version. Regardless, these are some of our favorites…

Barry Weiss’ Cowboy Cadillac

November 29, 2012 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers

Barry Weiss made a fortune selling wholesale produce and feeds his unique car collection, including this ’47 Cadillac, with the proceeds. [More…]

Charles Darmanjian’s 1947 Plymouth Rat Rod

Charles Darmanjian’s 1947 Plymouth ~ Flat Black Rat

November 7, 2017 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers

Charles is a one-man-show in a small three bay shop in North Troy, New York. He primarily designs and fabricates parts for cars that are far from rat rods, his project car is a 1947 Plymouth. While his business caters to newer cars, Charles admits that it’s the classics he really enjoys working on. [More…]

Doodlebugs, Scrambolas, Jitterbugs, Field Crawlers and Other Farm Rigs

September 9, 2007 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers

Doodlebug is the colloquial name for a home-made tractor made during World War II when production tractors were in short supply. [More…]

Lil’ Rat ~ Rat Rod Lawnmower Built for $40 Bucks

September 21, 2017 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers

Michael Snow from Horneytown, North Carolina saw our Farmer’s Chopper post and shared his old school rat rod lawnmower with us. [More…]

Aaron Anderson’s True Home Grown Rat Rod

October 12, 2017 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers

This truck was self-built with some help from neighbors, friends, and family. All the parts — every piece, came from Wabash County, Indiana. [More…]

The NewMad ~ 1955 Chevrolet Nomad Custom

October 10, 2012 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers

It took 24,000 hours and 1.3 million dollars to transform a ’55 Chevy Nomad into the award-winning Chevy “NewMad”. [More…]

DELIVERANCE ~ 1947 Ford Pro-Street Rat Rod Pickup

June 15, 2013 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers

This is no ordinary Rat Rod. It was designed and built by an experienced Winston Cup race car builder with race-quality parts front-to-rear. [More…]

Big Bertha by South Texas Performance

November 16, 2017 Roadkill Customs Builds and Examples, Rides & Roadkillers

South Texas Performance Turbo Diesel Rat Rod Truck built for The Rat Hard Build-Off ~ Builders get 30 days and $3,000 to build a Rat Rod. [More…]

n2a Motors is a California based custom auto manufacturer with a mission of reviving the art of American coach building. Melding design elements from different Chevy models, the 789 shows the world that you really can't have enough of a good thing. Although the 789 looks instantly iconic, it is actually the best of three classics mounted atop a Le Mans-winning Corvette C6 chassis. Aptly named for the three years represented in the overall design, the 789 has the “hooded eyes” and chrome grille of a '57, a mid-section that's reminiscent of a '58 Impala and the "bird in flight" rear tailfins of a '59. These three vehicles are all instantly recognizable classics celebrated by people around the world. Owning and operating a classic car often proves difficult. Rarity of parts, expertise needed for installation, and potentially high upkeep or restoration costs are some of the problems with which collectors must deal. All of the money in the world spent to modify or modernize a vintage car will not change the reliability or performance problems associated with it. The 789 offers the best of both worlds: retro looks and styling, and it will fire up every time you turn the key. The body is constructed of lightweight composite panels. n2a Motors has developed a process of using 80% carbon composite with 20% fiberglass. This process gives a light-weight rigid part as if it was 100% carbon composite with the minimal properties of fiberglass that allows for show quality paint and finish. Customers can either provide n2a Motors with a donor C5 series (1997 -2004) or C6 series (2005-current) Corvette, which currently retails for approximately $65,000 (though used models can be had for less), or n2a Motors can locate one for you. After stripping the Corvette of its stock body, n2a Motors hand-grafts the retro body panels over the stock frame, suspension, and massive 440-horsepower, 6.0-liter aluminum-block V8 engine. A full range of upgrades are available, including up to 800 hp power trains, custom suspension, audio/video/navigation systems, interior customization, and more. n2a Motors will build each 789 to meet each customer's specifications. However, please note that no previously built combination of paint scheme and interior treatment will be duplicated.

The 789 from n2a Motors

August 26, 2012 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers

Melding design elements from different Chevy models, the 789 shows the world that you really can’t have enough of a good thing. [More…]

The Roadkill Customs 1949 Studebaker Shop Truck

February 14, 2018 Roadkill Customs Builds and Examples, Low Budget Builds, Rides & Roadkillers

The Roadkill Shop Truck Project: Take a ’77 Camaro and S-10 frame rails and build a new soul for the ’49 Studebaker in 30 days for $1,000. [More…]

Hell On Wheels: 1958 Chevy Bel Air Gasser “Daddy’s Thing”

April 24, 2019 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers

Check out Brandon Beach as he puts his father’s gorgeous ’58 Chevy Belair gasser on the bumper! [More…]

1908 Mors ~ Fast, Dangerous And Heavy

June 27, 2019 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers

“Fast, dangerous, and heavy” describes cars like the 1908 Mors; they truly were born out of the desire to push the boundaries of the then-fledgling internal combustion engine. [More…]

Junkyard Rescue! Saving a 1950 GMC Truck

September 8, 2015 Roadkill Customs Builds and Examples, Rides & Roadkillers

One of the most incredible junkyards in the history of junk is Turner’s Auto Wrecking in Fresno, California — and on this episode of Roadkill, Freiburger and Finnegan hit those 100 acres of vintage sheet [More…]

Ken Block’s GYMKHANA TEN ~ The Ultimate Tire Slaying Tour

December 17, 2018 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers

Ken Block and Hoonigan are pleased to present the latest and biggest video project of his career, Gymkhana TEN: Ultimate Tire Slaying Tour. [More…]

1960s Street-Legal Ford Factory Race Cars

September 19, 2021 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers

We journey to the 1960s to see the Ford Motor Company’s factory-built race cars that were completely street legal. [More…]

This VW Karmann Ghia is a Turbocharged Ice Scraper

April 1, 2019 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers, Roadkill Imports, Volkswagen and Volksrods

This Volkswagen Karmann Ghia dubbed “the Ghiaru” was once headed towards the scrap heap. It was saved and got some Subaru power. [More…]

1955 Chevy 4×4 Truck ~ Daddy’s Girl

July 21, 2019 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers

When a 1955 Chevy 4×4 is nicknamed “Daddy’s Girl” you know it’s going to bring nostalgia like no other. [More…]

Fast & Furious 4 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner Movie Car

Fast & Furious 4 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner ~ From Stunt Double to This

May 31, 2020 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers

Jamie’s 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner was originally a stunt double for Steve Strope’s “Hammer” in Fast and Furious 3 “Tokyo Drift” and Fast 4. [More…]

Mark "TheLowLifeCo" Salinas and his Custom '55 Chevy Apache

Mark “TheLowLifeCo” Salinas and his Custom Chevy Apache

March 1, 2020 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers

Mark Salinas’ story of his custom Chevy Apache that started with a ’55 plus scavenged parts and how he built his dream Patina Chevy Apache. [More…]

There’s Budget Home-Built Badassery in this Old School ’67 Ford Mustang

August 5, 2020 Roadkill Customs Low Budget Builds, Rides & Roadkillers

Gabe is not a builder or fabricator and was able to put this stellar Mustang together in his home garage over a period of time. [More…]

Evolution of a RestoMod 1967 Pontiac Firebird Convertible

April 4, 2019 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers, Roadkill Muscle

The evolution of an inherited 1967 Pontiac Firebird convertible in 2007 and started to build a safe and reliable family cruiser RestoMod. [More…]

820 HP Chevrolet Rat Rod Pickup Truck

October 23, 2017 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers

In the 40s, this once innocent Chevrolet pickup left a dealership’s lot to begin a life of hard work and faithful service. Now, look at it. [More…]

1963 Studebaker Daytona Lark Wagonaire

February 13, 2018 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers, Vintage Films

Bob Carlberg took three full years to build and paint his 1963 Studebaker Daytona Lark Wagonaire and handled the entire process himself. [More…]

Mother Gun ~ 1927 Bentley Jackson Special

July 4, 2019 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers

Iconic doesn’t begin to describe this 1927 Bentley Jackson Special, affectionately referred to as “Mother Gun”. [More…]

Ford Victoria Breaks Donut Garage World Record

November 28, 2018 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers

In this Build Breakdown, Manny F. brings his small block 51′ Ford Victoria by the Donut Garage — and he didn’t come to talk. [More…]

The $500,000 Coyote Truck ~ A 1955 Ford F100

December 29, 2018 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers

This 1955 Ford F100 underwent a three and a half year transformation that cost in the neighborhood of $500,000! [More…]

1955 Chevy Pickup and Tahoe Chassis Swap

February 9, 2019 Roadkill Customs Builds and Examples, Rides & Roadkillers

Eric and Greg chassis swap a Chevrolet Tahoe donor under a 1955 Chevy truck body utilizing the complete chassis, suspension, and drive-train. [More…]

The Cherry Bomb ’68 Camaro

April 15, 2019 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers, Roadkill Muscle

Cherry Bomb’s 1968 Chevy Camaro ~ 800 hp from is LSX 427 engine and in true Cherry Bomb style, it disturbs the peace everywhere it goes. [More…]

1969 Dodge Charger Daytona ~ 745HP Widebody Build Breakdown

August 21, 2019 Mad Scientist Garage Rides & Roadkillers, Roadkill Muscle

Mad Scientist Garage breaks down the build of this insane widebody 1969 Charger Daytona with 740hp and a wild patina paint scheme. [More…]

The Barris Kustoms Built Munster Koach

December 6, 2019 Roadkill Customs Rides & Roadkillers

Barris Kustoms created the spooky hot rod dubbed the “Munster Koach” for the hit 1960’s TV show “The Munsters” ~ Take a Ride with Dennis Gage. [More…]