This weekend’s Street Rod Nationals East in York are sure to draw interest in this “driveable art” that isn’t even a street rod. Three generations of Lancaster County residents—father Johny Stauffer, son Todd Stauffer, and grandson Cordell Stauffer—built the “Dady Rat” over the course of 14 months. According to Todd Stauffer, the inspection of the specially made car took several more months. The rustic street rod is equipped with an air horn from a Union Pacific locomotive, a cab from a Harsco 923 military vehicle, and a Deutz diesel engine. The air horn “will roll your socks down to your ankles,” he claimed after one powerful blast.
Todd Stauffer stated that the inspiration behind the car came from discovering in a scrap yard a Deutz diesel engine, which is the biggest air-cooled diesel engine ever produced. They considered including it in a tractor pull, but that would mean they could only attend a certain number of events. This week, Street Rods will arrive in York. Todd Stauffer so proposed creating something using a license plate. Using a tape measure, the vehicle’s design was created on the spot. His father is a machinist with speciality work experience. Its engine produces 1400 foot-pounds of torque and 500 horsepower. It has 50-inch-tall and 14-inch-wide wheels. As Todd Stauffer noted, they measure it in “smiles per gallon.” It gets 10 miles per gallon.
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