Beater definition
An old or collectible vehicle that is in drivable condition, but looks terrible inside and out, and probably is missing many original parts. Often used to describe a car that is past the easy restoration stage but still contains many good driving miles. It is also a term for "urban combatCar" and is usually used in conjunction with the word winter, as in "winter beater," which is a car that is so far gone, it si sacrificed to the salt covered roads of winter. It is a disposable collectible that is driven until it disintegrates. In other words, it looks as if someone had been beating it for quite a while.