What's That? You Wanted To See The Diamond T's Passenger?

The first indication that there's something different could be the huge exhaust stack sticking off the top.
The first indication that there's something different could be the huge exhaust stack sticking off the top.

As engineerd pointed out in the previous post about the Diamond T, there is, sadly, a certain point where a lot of these custom cars start to look the same. If you get too many cars with the same patina finish, the same skull shifters, the same teardrop taillights, they start to get a bit tiresome. Don’t get us wrong, they’re still beautiful, and when seen by themselves on the street they’re something awesome to behold; but when you see a lineup of them at a car show, it’s hard for one to stand out above the others.

It's like the John Deere-iness is trying to break free!
It's like the John Deere-iness is trying to break free!

Once again Steve Darnell has come to the rescue with an innovative solution. Based on a 1929 Dodge chassis, and powered by what appears to be a John Deere tractor motor, with a turbocharger from either a small aircraft or an overly-enthusiastic small Japanese car, it takes a fairly unique approach. It looks like a fairly standard rat-rod execution, but when it fires up, it gargles and burbles like Jeremy Irons angrily eating peanut butter. Yeah, I was reaching for an analogy there, and that’s what I came up with. This car actually stumped me.
Of particular note are the many farm references around the car. An old grain-sack used as the shifter boot. What appears to be old painted sign-metal, used to form the dashboard. But most significant are the pieces of artistically cut-away metal, showing bright green patches beneath, demonstrating in a subtle way the John Deere basis beneath.
It takes quite a bit to make us sit up and take notice. (Well, okay, it takes quite a bit if you don’t have cleavage.) Congrats to Steve Darnell for not only making us sit up once, but twice. As we said before, he’s a man who knows how to make an entrance.

[Once again, the obvious hat tip to James Brennan, aka UDMan for the photos. We love you, man. No really.]

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  1. Deartháir Avatar
    Deartháir

    One bill! Although I can't tell what that is… is it a Benjamin? I'm Canadian, we have the common bloody sense to give our money different colours… like every other country in the world. 😉

    1. VeeArrrSix Avatar

      Isn't that why they are called Greenbacks?

      1. CptSevere Avatar

        Yeah. Money's GREEN.

      2. CptSevere Avatar

        Yeah. Money's GREEN.

  2. engineerd Avatar

    I love how all the [apparent] attention has been paid to the engine compartment. Forget about making it look good, he just wants it to be fast. The old racing seats are a little incongruous as well, it would seem. This guy does some nice work, and a big ass diesel in a rat rod is definitely something different. Especially when it seems 99% of them have Chevy 350s.
    Oh, and thanks for the shoutout. I promise not to make any Canadian jokes for 24 hours. Is it OK if I make fun of Quebecians?

    1. omg grip Avatar
      omg grip

      those look like relatively new ultrashield race seats, without any covers on them. but they sure suit the theme well.

    2. Target29 Avatar

      Right now the Canadians to pick on are from Saskatchewan as their beloved Roughriders lost the Grey Cup as they had too many men on the field for the last play of the game while their opponent missed the game winning field goal. The penalty gave the Montreal Alouettes a second chance to kick the field goal which was not missed.

      1. engineerd Avatar

        So, Saskatchewanians < Quebecians? Yup, they should be picked on.

  3. P161911 Avatar

    No 3-point hitch?

  4. ptschett Avatar

    This car was in Hot Rod a few months ago. It's powered by a Cummins B-series engine from a Dodge pickup.
    http://www.hotrod.com/featuredvehicles/hrdp_0911_

  5. […] Diesel Rat Rod, making it’s debut at SEMA this year. Nominated by: UDMan As Seen in the Post: What’s That? You wanted to see the Diamond T’s Passenger. I thought this was the very definition of the type of Rat Rod that the readers here at Hooniverse […]

  6. […] Diesel Rat Rod, making it’s debut at SEMA this year. Nominated by: UDMan As Seen in the Post: What’s That? You wanted to see the Diamond T’s Passenger. I thought this was the very definition of the type of Rat Rod that the readers here at Hooniverse […]

  7. […] Diesel Rat Rod, making it’s debut at SEMA this year. Nominated by: UDMan As Seen in the Post: What’s That? You wanted to see the Diamond T’s Passenger. I thought this was the very definition of the type of Rat Rod that the readers here at Hooniverse […]

  8. […] Diesel Rat Rod, making it’s debut at SEMA this year. Nominated by: UDMan As Seen in the Post: What’s That? You wanted to see the Diamond T’s Passenger. I thought this was the very definition of the type of Rat Rod that the readers here at Hooniverse […]

  9. […] Diesel Rat Rod, making it’s debut at SEMA this year. Nominated by: UDMan As Seen in the Post: What’s That? You wanted to see the Diamond T’s Passenger. I thought this was the very definition of the type of Rat Rod that the readers here at Hooniverse […]

  10. […] Diesel Rat Rod, making it’s debut at SEMA this year. Nominated by: UDMan As Seen in the Post: What’s That? You wanted to see the Diamond T’s Passenger. I thought this was the very definition of the type of Rat Rod that the readers here at Hooniverse […]

  11. Shelley Capito Avatar

    This is absolutely perfect 😀 Thankyou for making this available

  12. Arlinda Rodvold Avatar

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