rattle-trap

rattle-trap

slang A rickety, broken-down, clunky old motor vehicle. I can't believe he's still driving the same old rattle-trap that he had way back in high school. I've sunk more money in this rattle-trap than the damn thing is even worth.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

rattle-trap

n. a rattly (old) car; any rattly vehicle. I hear Ted’s rattle-trap in the driveway.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • bolt bucket
  • graveyard
  • make old bones
  • be (as) old as the hills
  • bucket of bolts
  • a piece of old tackie
  • any old
  • geezer
  • mossback
  • of old
References in classic literature
To me she was not an old rattle-trap carting about the world a lot of coal for a freight--to me she was the endeavor, the test, the trial of life.
Youth A Narrative
"Men like plenty of room for their rattle-traps; don't you think that ought to satisfy me?"
Eight Cousins
Leave all your rattle-traps behind you: to be overhauled, if necessary, at his honor the admiral's discretion.
No Name
The program already has replaced some real rattle-trap stoves, installer Matthew Clement of Ambassador Piping said.
Stove swaps help keep air clean
He learned how to weld up GI .45 barrels and fit them to rattle-trap Government Models long before there was a Bar Sto barrel to buy or a CNC machine-checkered frame to sell.
YOU CAN WIN A CUSTOM RUGER VAQUERO
That's to take nothing away from the genuine heroes - but if they could have called on the go-anywhere off-roader of today as opposed to the rattle-trap of yesteryear, there wouldn't have been so many loosened fillings to add to all the discomfort.
Motoring: Legend Wayne joins forces with Cherokees