Inside one hot rodder’s drive to build muscle cars for disabled veterans

From his Virginia hot rod shop, Dan Short of DRS Automotive Fantomworks has been able to parlay his talents into a Fantomworks cable TV series on Velocity and a growing reputation for quality car restorations. Short, a former Green Beret, launched an effort six years ago to build hot rods that wheelchair-bound veterans could enjoy. This Sunday, Short will show off the results — and how close he came to failing.

Most solutions for helping paraplegic or similarly disabled veterans get back on the road involves transforming some kind of van, simply because there's no other vehicle typically capable of carrying the veteran, his or her wheelchair and all the power equipment necessary to raise and lower access ramps. Those conversions can also be costly — starting around $12,000 and escalating from there for just the equipment and hand controls — meaning most veterans shop for used vans to save money.

Short says the idea of providing wounded veterans with a better ride though a charity he calls Wounded Wheels was one of the reasons he founded his own shop: