: PS How about making a small "boat" to replace the sidecar on my motorcycle, any ideas???

About a year ago e-bay had frames from sidecars -- looked like WW II vintage -- up for auction. You should be able to find similar, or just have a racing sidecar frame welded up for you. A short, flat-bottomed canoe should make a nice sidecar which can just be bolted onto such a frame.

If you are not fixated on a boat shape for the sidecar body, you can make a real nice cylinder with a rounded front out of strips. The forms are simple circles. Each strip is tapered and bent in the front ( corresponding to the bow on a boat) to give the rounded front end.

A simple trick for this: Since the front is symmetrical, all the strips are tapered and then beveled identically. Drawing them together over the forms gives you the perfect shape.

Cherry wood strips held onto the forms with brightly polished brass screws looks really great. You don't need fiberglass, but if you do put on a layer it looks like a very deep varnish finish over the wood and brass.

As for small cars, there is one of these for sale in the store under my office.
See http://www.sparrowelectriccars.com/

PGJ