Rick “Doc” Buikema
Clinton, Iowa
Doc brings back the classic Coca-Cola jingle with his rat rod, The Real Thing. It started as an AMT 1/25 scale Ford pickup, but nothing was left alone. The engine is a Detroit diesel with exhausts made from rabbit-ear antennas. A 1923 Mack chain drive turns the rear wheels, and a lip balm container serves as a gas tank. Doc made the airbags from plumbing O rings. He painted with spray paint and used salt, pastels, and artist oil paints for heavy weathering.