[decooney]

doberman,

- Budget
- Timeline
- Expected use
- Desired looks (shape, profile, etc)
- How much you wanna do yourself

...are parameters (once determined) that typically help you to narrow down the choices a bit more.

There is a lot to be said about building a car where all the engineering and bugs have already been sorted out for you. And, there are others who just enjoy taking something and re-engineering and further improving aspects of a particular manufacturer's car to make it their own. It seems to me for anyone to help you answer the questions with you is to first be sure to try and determiine say your top five goals first in order of preference. Its fun to watch people go through this "Cobra Lifecycle". and then to see how the goals change from start to finish, reflecting back to where you started and where you ended up.