A TEAM of maverick mechanics have completed an incredible transformation of a classic Rolls Royce once owned by eccentric British aristocrat, Lord Tredegar. Dubbed the Rolls Royce rat rod, the car takes its inspiration and design from traditional rat rods, which typically involve customising cars from the early 20th century. Mechanic Sam Hard, from Farnham, Hampshire, headed up the team responsible for the audacious build, which proved a big hit at the recent SEMA car show in Las Vegas.
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00:00In the end what it boils down to is enjoying yourself and making people smile and I'm pretty
00:07sure at SEMA 2016 we did that one of the most craziest cars that anyone would dare to build.
00:12The conventional rat rod to the man that loves his Ferrari and Lamborghini they're just another
00:23rusty car on the road. We try to put our own interpretation on what a rat rod should be,
00:27you know maybe a royal rat rod or a rat rod Rolls-Royce. You know if you're going to
00:32rat rod a Rolls-Royce these bodies are aluminium and you can't make them rust anyway so what can
00:36we do we can put our own interpretation on it. Big engine, exposed welds, cut the roof down, original
00:41seats, original steering box, original grille, original body panels, we didn't put any paint on it,
00:46you know same with the rat rod style but we're just here to have fun. This incredible rat rod began as
00:53a 1936 Rolls-Royce. It was created by an international team including Sam Hard.
01:00Where we got the inspiration from building the Rolls-Royce rat rod was actually at SEMA in 2015.
01:06I was there helping a friend of mine build a car for SEMA and at the time I had a few 2,111
01:13aids and I was talking to a few celebrities and I pretty much put my foot in it. Sam had entered
01:18himself and his team into a competition to build a rat rod to show at the following year's SEMA event.
01:25While the end design was a team effort, American Michael Lightbourne had the idea of using a Rolls-Royce.
01:32He sourced the car and convinced the owner to part with it.
01:36Sam and his dad Derek helped raise sponsorship and sourced parts and the customizing work was carried
01:43out at Street Toys in Mexico by Jesse Gonzalez and his team. It's got LS6. I mean that engine's a
01:50freaking powerhouse. Big block Chevy. It's got hillboard fuel injection again that kicks up another
01:5480 to 100 brake horsepower. How fast can it go 0-60? I mean it's kind of how big your cojones are is
02:02how to answer that question. I mean it's just quite scary to actually put your foot down on a car that's
02:06number one got an aluminium frame you don't want to twist it even though it has been strengthened
02:11unbelievably well. I mean this car probably weighs under you know a tonne and the power to weight
02:16ratio is something probably like a Ferrari. I mean it's unbelievable you put the foot down and
02:20it's actually quite scary to think that are you actually going to stop because this thing is a
02:24freaking powerhouse. When the car's paperwork was sent to motoring writer Glyn Williams he discovered
02:33that the Rolls-Royce had an interesting history. Through the chassis number I found out this was the first
02:38Rolls-Royce that Lord Tredegar ever owned and for it to be the most eccentric crazy guy you know known
02:45in the UK history near royalty friends of Hitler you know Winston Churchill all these famous people
02:51and now we just cut it up and having some fun with it. I kind of feel that if Lord Tredegar was here today
02:56he'd be smiling too. With the build finished it was time to take the car from Mexico to Las Vegas.
03:03When we took it to SEMA some of the best car builders in the world Gene Winfield you know
03:09the guys from the Diesel Brothers the guys from Street Outlaws all these crazy amazing people with
03:15unbelievable reputations not only just for the uh the building side of things but even in the TV
03:20world you know Welder Up Garage a massive massive rat rob builder garage in Las Vegas these guys came
03:25over to the shop and they couldn't believe what we'd done to the car it was groundbreaking it was
03:30unbelievable. After the success of this collaboration the team is already looking ahead to SEMA 2017.
03:38The car has already been bought we're just trying to make it as crazy as we can and try to make some
03:42people scared and maybe a little bit upset and try and make the majority of the car builders in the
03:46custom car world smile. 2017 SEMA here we go.