Fake '68 Formula-S on Ebay!!!
to me clone cars are a mixed bag. i don't like it when some rip-off tries to pass one as authentic, but i also don't like the high prices of the real cars.
a clone is the only way most po workin folks can afford one.
personally i like phantom cars, that way i can have what i want regardless if the factory built it or not. you also get the added benefit of watching the newbies who don't know anything oooh and aaaaw at the obviously "rare" options. the only time "numbers matching" really matters is if you are paying for that. i use the term "built up cars" more often then "clone" as most are not actually complete clones of original cars, but cars built up how you want them. when i look at a built up car i am considering buying i look at the parts it is built from (both stock and aftermarket) and do the math and add up the value of the pile of parts it took to put it together. then i decide if i like it, or what i will have to change to make it what i like, how much that would cost me, and how much a head start the car would give me over starting from scratch. many times the car is cheaper than buying all the parts seperately and you get them all at once. on the flip side i have seen cars where the work was all done wrong, and it would have cost more to fix then to start from scratch. if a numbers matching rare original car is what it takes to make you happy, and you can afford one, more power to you. if you find or build a car that you can afford that makes you happy and the numbers aren't important to you that's cool too. the only thing really not cool is misrepresenting it or commiting fraud. (this does not include letting someone who doesn't know any better drool over it because they ASSUME it's real,as long as you're not selling it to them as genuine) Doug