Spend enough time on the internet and you’ll eventually discover true oddballs languishing like any other barn find featured on this very site. Take, for example, the highly obscure Ben-Dera Ford, one man’s vision of what futuristic vehicle travel should look like. Crafted in his home well before a self-driving Tesla was even a figment of someone’s imagination, the history of the Ben-Dera can be found here on the 1A Auto Blog, which features an original article from Car And Driver magazine that profiled its creator in the 1990s.

Created by John Bender – the man seen here in a photo from the Car And Driver article – the Ben-Dera was the manifestation of what he saw as an extension of his imagination. Concept cars were fun to gawk at, but it wasn’t his creation. Bender built two of these flying saucers-on-wheels, one with a Pinto-derived four-cylinder and a second with a Ford Cologne V6 and air conditioning. Although he yearned to see them produced on a limited basis, these were the only cars built.

There have been sightings over the years of the Ben-Dera featured in the Car And Driver article. The photo up top likely shows it languishing outside Bender’s home, while the one here was supposedly captured outside of a Wendy’s – indicating someone was still using it for the occasional errand. In an article published by Opposite Lock, Bender says the reason for not following through with production was due to a fear of being sued. By who and why is never disclosed.

The novelty of this creation is amplified further when you realize Bender produced his own molds, sourced rather commonplace materials for construction and otherwise hand-formed this car while living inside a massive shop building he called home. We’d love to know if Bender himself is still driving this Pinto-powered creation around Ohio, and we’re especially curious as to what happened with the six-cylinder example. Has anyone seen one of these creations in the flesh?