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Many enthusiasts dream of driving a Lancia Stratos, but few have been lucky enough to do it. One man is not only fortunate enough to own and race a '70s rally super car, but has the means to also recreate his dream car to his own vision.

Like the rest of its ilk, the Land Rover LR4 is big, tall, and heavy. No surprise there. Given the amount of effort expended by the auto industry in making big trucks like this into palatable suburban-use vehicles, it's also not terribly surprising that the LR4 is very polished overall-quiet, smooth-riding, and even reasonably good-handling. Where the Land Rover does, however, stand apart from other full-size, three-row SUVs is that it is considerably less stressful to maneuver in town. Although you think of the Land Rover as a big boy (and it is), its overall length is quite a bit shorter than several of its competitors. A Mercedes-Benz GL or an Audi Q7 is some ten inches longer; a Chevy Tahoe/Cadillac Escalade is a foot longer. The LR4 has the additional advantage of a tighter turning circle, besting the GL, the Q7, and even the fractionally smaller Jeep Commander. The final element that keeps the LR4 from being a tiresome beast to wrestle with is its excellent outward visibility.

The Chevy Corvair's swing axles and heavy tail are implements of the devil, at least according to Ralph Nader's Unsafe at Any Speed diatribe. Paul Siano, the creator of the mid-engine Siano Special, doesn't buy any of that. He has owned, modified, and drag-raced Corvairs for more than half of his seventy years without suffering a single unintended spinout.