yeah I thought rat rods are stuff you kind of just put together with spare parts that you have in your garage...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_rod
Or here is the wiki term for it.
I think the Evo is a rat rod wantabe but I think what is a better deffinition is a 1G DSM with a dirty engine bay but big turbo, interior stripped out, loud exhaust probably from an exhaust pipe out the side, clear coat faded off, some sort of wire and zipties holding it together...and this could go on...
I kind of wanted to put together a photo book of cars like that with imports and domestics.