You Will Never Guess What’s Under The Bodywork Of This Rat Rod

The restomod world will never be played out, but it’s a crazy expensive way to drive an old car with all the modern power and safety and conveniences added. The art of body swapping – taking the body of an old car and putting it on the chassis of a new car – isn’t exactly new and doesn’t have a catchy new name yet, but it’s going to be the next big thing in the custom car industry. In this case, though, we have a one-off by the YouTuber Papa Wheelie. In a genius move, he has taken the most popular side-by-side ATV out there, the Polaris RZR, and clad it with the body of a derelict 1929 Ford Model A to create a modern rat rod.

Raw Materials

In this case, it’s a 2016 Polaris RZR Turbo that had been rolled over in an accident, and a 1929 Model A rescued from his uncle’s property. And we don’t think it’s “pretty stupid” – it’s outright genius to marry the two together. The RZR turbo uses a turbocharged 1.0-liter two-cylinder engine making 168 hp. Being a small engine in a small chassis capable of wheelies across sand dunes, mating it with the cut-down bodywork of a Model A coupe isn’t adding much weight – even though it’s old school steel.

The wheelbase is similar enough and the Model A tires are thin and easy to overwhelm with power, which adds to the fun. The Model A has always been a hot rodder’s joy, and it’s been cut down in the traditional manner and the side-mounted spare tossed to one side as Henry Ford never intended. Now, it has the roll-cage from the RZR chassis, but that adds to the look and, given how famous RZRs are for being rolled, it is worth keeping.

A Three-Year Build

If you’re in the mood to follow the whole story, it’s a 13-episode video series made over three years on YouTube and worth watching. Skip to the 13th episode below, though, and you can hear that the end result sounds nothing like any other Model A-based hot rod built before. You can also see how agile it is on the RZR chassis, capable of burnouts and drifting without requiring the traditional flat-head V8. The fit and finish is also brilliant, looking like it means business with its lowered and raked stance. The wheels and tires will be replaced at some point with ITP Coyote tires fitted onto Vision wheels for off-road shenanigans as it isn’t road legal. It’ll lose some of its personality, but it will be wonderful to see a Model A doing RZR things. Hopefully, Papa Wheelie will make sure the new tires are white-walled.