I never thought hoopties were rods. I like the first definition in the Urban Dictionary. I had a $250 primer gray Triumph Vitesse that the son of a guy I worked with "fixed". It ran, but it was something new every day. If you tried to turn the lights on, the windshield wipers started. If you hit the turn signal, the horn would honk. I am not making this up. (And it was already weird shifting with my left hand.)

Around where I live now, it's either motorcycles or pickup trucks, none of which seem to be visibly or audibly augmented.