Brand new, but I have the donor
 

Everybodys advice is asked for and welcome...

I have a 2000 Dodge Neon (that I traded my brand new Ford Focus to my wife for so that we can convert the neon to electric). It is is great condition to be the perfect donor car. It still runs but I plan on selling the engine to pay off the rest of the car. My focus for this car will be extreme light weight and as good as possible aerodynamics. The nice this about the Neon is that there is plenty of aftermarket out there to do what I want with this car. I need to start narrowing down though what kind of drivetrain set up to go with. The car currently has an automatic transmission but I can swap that pretty easily for a manual. I have considered just doing a typical motor-tranny conversion with an adapter plate, I have thought about direct drive as well as dual wheel motors on the rear two wheels. Has ANYONE done a wheel motor conversion? I know this would take quite a bit of engineering but the car would save quite a bit of weight with the absence of the transmission and halfshafts. Any advice is appreciated as I am just now working on the plans and parting the car out!

I haven't seen any wheel motor conversions out there on the hobbiest level but I'm sure you're get a lot of advice if you decide to get with the manual transmission and adapter plate.

Welcome to ecomodder!