Nothing in unfashionable poets' motors (9)

'nothing' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't tell whether this works.

'unfashionable poets' motors' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'unfashionable' could be 'out' (similar in meaning) and 'out' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'boards' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?