yes that is an engine in the boot but in this case its standard and there's one in the front too 2CV 'Sahara' 4x4 at Technoclassica Essen 2015. Links available elsewhere in my posts re Fb Essen album if of interest
I don't know about that but certainly something to annoy the 2CV purists I expect!
I don't see those as rats... A rat to me is a totally standard car that looks a bit scruffy and wears a gorgeous 'well lived-in' patina but is in excellent condition underneath...
I have two Xantias that fit my rat dfinintion perfectly
Rat-rod yes, rat no... Both have their place and I like both very much, but for me a true rat trumps a fake-patina & new chrome rat-rod all day.
Rats are about being mechanically sound while the cosmetics are left to their own devices IMO, you don't build a rat it evolves over time. Rat-rods are built (sometimes extremely shoddily!) and made to look the way they do on purpose, with more attention to looks than mechanical soundness or practicality a lot of the time. There's a lot of cross over between the two which is good though.
I "rat-rodded" the other 206 before breaking it, basically just lowered the rear beam onto the bump stops, removed the front springs entirely, ditched the wheel trims, grille & most of the interior, painted the rear lamps & inside of the rear windows black & painted a silver "sun strip" onto the front screen. Finished it off by scribbling a Roadkill logo onto said sunstrip... it was a fun little toy for a few days while I sorted out what mechanical bits were worth keeping, bumpy as all hell but it looked pretty cool.