RACING TO AMERICA BACK COVER Why even consider going through the agony and expense of shipping an entire racing operation to the other side of the earth? For the same reason Americans went to the moon. For one thing, the grass is greener - humans share a natural enticement to the unobtainable - in this case, time travel. And many just aspire to leave a mark illustrating how hardcore they are. Racers can never resist a challenge. Beating the home team on their own sacred turf offers an irresistible satisfaction for those of a competitive bent. Plus, the whole adventure is one hell of a lot of...

During the '70s, '80s and '90s, hot rods followed very definite trends. It seems every hot rod built in the '70s reflected the somewhat garish tastes of that decade, and everyone had a small-block Chevy powering it. In the '80s and '90s, many rods were built to seamless perfection in a modern high-tech style, laden with billet, smooth seams, no rough edges, and a huge price tag.

You had to know there would be a backlash, and rat rods are the backlash to the extreme. As a response to the high-dollar billet-based street rod trend, budget-limited home-based rod builders looked to the past for...