If I had a sawbuck for every car-buff's pet project languishing on the back-burner at this moment, I'd have enough money to finish my own "dream machine" once and for all, with cash left over to build the hot vehicle-transporter of my dreams. Not that I’m into trailer queens, but I see nothing wrong with building a car so exotic that you’ll want to shy away from semi-spewed road rocks and door-swinging body-bashers by employing a mobile "car cocoon" to properly preserve that fine fantasy rod as the need arises.

Which brings us to my "Rodster", or so it was to be called when I initially began my "forever project" about 22 years ago. The final form of this scratch-built tube-framed mid-motored money-pit has become more of a journey than a destination, literally an open-ended odyssey of effort. Every time I think I’ve got my final desires etched in stone, I get another brainstorm. If there has been one styling direction explored, there’s been fifty. Literally hundreds of design sketches and drawings. I can’t show but a few ideas due to limited space, but trust me, I’ve spent more time on the drawing board than has been spent by everyone involved in the actual construction so far. We’ll begin with the original "T"-bucket concepts.