What once was the empty shell of a 1931 four-door Chevrolet sedan is now a lean, mean racing machine.
Members of the Chattanooga Rat Rod Association spent the past year in sporadic fits of cutting, welding and fabricating the lifeless carcass of the old car into a unique and powerful rat rod. And today, the one-of-a-kind backyard-build will be presented to its owner, Fred Ledford.
“We’ve got a chance here to build a rat rod and fulfill this man’s lifelong dream,” said club member and event coordinator Mike Pleasant, a retired Chattanooga firefighter from Hixson.
Ledford’s acreage on Mowbray Mountain is scattered with the bodies of old cars. He told his longtime friend, club member Denny Nash, that he’d always wanted to build a rat rod, but poor health and lack of the proper equipment held him back.
Nash relayed the news to the other club members, and they decided to jump into the project.