I like to call them "DFS Specials"

Well... special now has many different meanings, such as low functioning (according to the urban dictionary). Probably about right for these vehicles.

Anyone know what became of the chrome rad ruby chopshop special? Or was it tinfoil stuck on with wallpaper paste!

Five or six of these terrible, unfinished things were offered in various states of completion by the one seller last year. Most have reappeared for sale since, presumably after the first buyer realised what they'd lumbered themselves with.

Clearly a small-scale production line was operating. It's a real shame that so many Rubies were butchered to build these horrors.

Location: Herefordshire, with an "E" not a "T".

I meant to go to see one of these as they seemed to come from the next parish but I had better things to do. One of them had a pair of cut-down waterskis as wings IIRC which I found amusing.
My guess is that someone had a garage-full to clear under pressure of space or pension requirements...

No, Duncan. As far as I can make out it was a young-ish guy who'd made a batch of these bodies - steel on a softwood frame(!) - which he fitted onto the chassis of rough but restorable Rubies, the original bodies of which he then sold on Ebay.

I think that only one was put on the market as anything approaching finished. A few, some with Reliant engines, were offered about 80% finished, with the difficult work still to do, and at least one was just a kit of parts.

Unfortunately, very little thought seems to have been given to the ergonomic aspect and most of them were mechanically incomplete non-runners ("minor work to finish") when sold. I very much doubt that any of them could have easily been made into safe or practical road cars.

Several have reappeared on Ebay, some being re-sold "on behalf of a friend" by the original seller, who latterly was distancing himself from the actual construction.

I suspect that a combination of DVLA problems - those that had registrations were, I think, all still "Saloons" and the realisation that building a decent special involves a lot of work, skill and expense probably put paid to an over-ambitious business project.

Location: Herefordshire, with an "E" not a "T".