Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

I know there are a few forumengers who would know such things so I'm hoping help will be at hand...

Say I wanted to undertake a wildly ambitious project to design and build my own car from scratch (or near enough), where would I start with my reading list for chassis and suspension design/ engineering?

I'm thinking tubular spaceframe with mid mounted engine and rear wheel drive.

I know there would be an extremely good argument for pilfering existing suspension setups from something else and just building a chassis to meet the suspension mounting points that otherwise would be in whatever car I've taken the suspension from (I've seen people mention RX-8 and 350Z as good donors for this) but I'd like to do as much homework as I can to be able to make as informed a decision as possible before committing to choosing donor suspension.

I've also had people recommend the best way to go about such a task is the LFGSS (@amey) approved method of starting with the tyres and working inward.

I'm reasonably competent with Revit as I use it for work but the specifics of engineering a chassis in Revit would be a little bit out of my comfort zone at the moment (I'm determined to learn!)

So... please direct me to the Sheldon Brown of building your own sportscar...

(A comprehensive and long winded build thread will ensue provided I can get past the early planning stage on this one!)