How hard is it to build my own street legal car from scratch?

If you want to build a car from scratch, I can tell you how I did it. I designed the car, built the chassis and made sure it was legal to drive on the road. 

The first step in building a car is to find out the rules and regulations. You need to know what you can and cannot do, so that your car is legal. Some of the rules might surprise you.

For instance, I had to weld the chassis myself. If I had a professional welder do it (even if it was then better quality) it was no longer a self built car and would never pass the legal requirements.

Ask for help from the regulatory body. Hope you strike lucky like I did and find somebody who is actually pretty happy to help.

You need to know what car you want to build. Maybe you have a car that is broken and needs a new chassis? Or maybe you want to start from scratch. You also need the car's design, like how it will look and if it can go fast, or if it should be able to do something else.

For example, sometimes people make cars for families who have children with disabilities so they can drive themselves. We also have examples of built cars in the car builds gallery.

Start looking at the car's body. Check for headlights, indicators, and rear lights. Make sure the car has good wing mirrors and check to make sure the car is using tires that are really quiet, because there are rules on how loud a car can be when it drives.

When you are building a car, you need to think about where to put the lights. For example, in the Netherlands there is a rule that the first light on your car must be more than 40 cm from the ground.

And indicators (like turn signals) need to be within 40 cm of the widest part of your car. That way, people can see them easily. Make sure you plan ahead so that you can replace the lights if necessary.

While building a car, talk to the people who make the rules. Let them know what you are doing and what stage you are in. If you have any questions, ask them for advice. Try to build the best car possible by going beyond the basic needs of the rules.

When you are making a car, there are some things you need to do to make it legal.

But the best part is when you are finished building the car. You can sit in it and enjoy the ride. Make sure to take pictures and videos of your car so you can remember this happy time. When you finish the car, cry tears of happiness because it's finally done!