Smallest FWD production car ?

[Ryland]

VW bug front ends are a self contained unit held to the rest of the body with I think 4 bolts... that makes them very simple to work with, you would of course need to make your vehicle rear wheel drive at that point, other options are to check out hot rod catalogs, they tend to sell front end parts and complete units, if you want independent suspension then pick your favorite parts car out of the back yard of someones house and buy it for $100, it will require alot more fabrication on your part but it can be made to fit.

[RobertSmalls]

A first-gen Honda Insight glider weighs under 1000lbs, but you mentioned you had a budget.

If you're going with a VW diesel, how about an old VW Rabbit?

Clearly an interesting project.