this could be a rant or food for thought???
clones? back when I first got interested in this old mopar car hobby, bout '85. these "high performance" yet to be called "musclecars" were just becoming sought after toys, after being nothing more than used car gas hogs. no such thing as a clone. anything NOT a real performance muscle car,,,,say roadrunner, or say pre 72 performance car was a potential racecar or parts car. 72 340 cuda??? couldn't pay someone to haul it away!!
who invented the clone anyway!????? maybe the barret jackson "buzzard." he wants to turn a quick buck, but not invest in the price of say an original runner or cuda or whatever project.. maybe it started back in late nineties when the price was recovering from the price crash of 91-2!!!!??? first time I heard that word I was reading mopar action or something.... I remember when people starting wanting like $3500 to 5,000 for a 69 383 runner, project, that few years before, ya wouldn't even look at it for a parts car! maybe that was when it started ???? date? not sure, maybe around '96 or 7?? don't recall. ( maybe for the mopar guy born in 2000 this isn't relevant)?? so the clone was born.
i'm always lusting after something that would be interesting... say an m code 69 cuda, ya know the rare 440 car.only a handful built.... now i'm not a purist, not wealthy, don't expect to find one in the 80 yr old neighbors barn, and steal it from her, so the clone enters my head. (open up my head and have my brain examined???). o k. so I say self, find a decent roller, maybe one old joe took apart 5-6 yrs ago and the wife says " sell it or divorce!!!!!" yes!!!! that's fair!!??? right.
so now I tell myself, is this opening up a can of worms!???
yea I've seen the real ones, passed on buying an original numbers matching one bout "98 for 10 K, perfect body, but muissing hood scoops, rebuilt # motor sittin on stand. not my favorite color but..... 10K. yes wife (now X) if she found out, she would have pooped a cow. I know, should have bought it... hindsight...
now I know these machines were built over 3 specific days of production, so do the buzzards.... so a build date and appropriate vin could be made up, by the buzzards. right. I've seen people have vin tags reproduced, totally illegal if nothing else, fender tags, no problem, not sure if the buzzards have repoped the build sheet!????so if ya know all the little things that were unique to the car, it can be "cloned".
now here enters the "thing" I sometimes have a hard time understanding. you got the guy that wants an original Plymouth built 69 440 m code 69 # matching cuda. he' s will to pay big bucks for it. he can afford it. he wouldn't consider a clone, a made up car, a duplicate, a tribute car, right??
now when the factory built this car, it started as a body just like the slant car. it rolls down the assembly line and the guys build it according to the build sheet, adding the frame boxing, right torsion bars, correct leaf springs, brakes, then that 440 with the funky mounts,,, etc, then it gets interior and paint and etc like all the rest. ok so someone punched the hood and added the "rare" scoops. the line spits it out with that big honkin 440, and then the production is back spitting out the slants, 318 cars etc.
so then what is such a big deal!????? its a slant body with the funky parts!???? but yet there are guys willing to pay how many $$$$ for an "original one?"????
then ya got the "buzzzzard" building one with illegal vin, stamped block,etc etc ( o k so he had to find one with correct casting date...), he's ready to screw bigtime that guy that wants the "real" car I have to wonder how many people have been taken!????
so if I build this clone lets say, if I ever decide to sell it, yes I would say I built it that way, but.... would it someday windups up in the hands of someone that wants to try to pawn it off as " factory built"?!! .....
now don't get me wrong. I love the enthusiasm the "purist" has, his knowledge of that particular car he so covets, that perfectly restored, rare, numbers matching, correct right down to the original spare with 1969 pure air in it.....I applaud his ability to restore a basket case or his financial wherewith to buy one in any condition....
but...... if have one, I will have to do as Plymouth did, start with a body and add all the doda's!!!>>>>>>:LOL
clones? back when I first got interested in this old mopar car hobby, bout '85. these "high performance" yet to be called "musclecars" were just becoming sought after toys, after being nothing more than used car gas hogs. no such thing as a clone. anything NOT a real performance muscle car,,,,say roadrunner, or say pre 72 performance car was a potential racecar or parts car. 72 340 cuda??? couldn't pay someone to haul it away!!
who invented the clone anyway!????? maybe the barret jackson "buzzard." he wants to turn a quick buck, but not invest in the price of say an original runner or cuda or whatever project.. maybe it started back in late nineties when the price was recovering from the price crash of 91-2!!!!??? first time I heard that word I was reading mopar action or something.... I remember when people starting wanting like $3500 to 5,000 for a 69 383 runner, project, that few years before, ya wouldn't even look at it for a parts car! maybe that was when it started ???? date? not sure, maybe around '96 or 7?? don't recall. ( maybe for the mopar guy born in 2000 this isn't relevant)?? so the clone was born.
i'm always lusting after something that would be interesting... say an m code 69 cuda, ya know the rare 440 car.only a handful built.... now i'm not a purist, not wealthy, don't expect to find one in the 80 yr old neighbors barn, and steal it from her, so the clone enters my head. (open up my head and have my brain examined???). o k. so I say self, find a decent roller, maybe one old joe took apart 5-6 yrs ago and the wife says " sell it or divorce!!!!!" yes!!!! that's fair!!??? right.
so now I tell myself, is this opening up a can of worms!???
yea I've seen the real ones, passed on buying an original numbers matching one bout "98 for 10 K, perfect body, but muissing hood scoops, rebuilt # motor sittin on stand. not my favorite color but..... 10K. yes wife (now X) if she found out, she would have pooped a cow. I know, should have bought it... hindsight...
now I know these machines were built over 3 specific days of production, so do the buzzards.... so a build date and appropriate vin could be made up, by the buzzards. right. I've seen people have vin tags reproduced, totally illegal if nothing else, fender tags, no problem, not sure if the buzzards have repoped the build sheet!????so if ya know all the little things that were unique to the car, it can be "cloned".
now here enters the "thing" I sometimes have a hard time understanding. you got the guy that wants an original Plymouth built 69 440 m code 69 # matching cuda. he' s will to pay big bucks for it. he can afford it. he wouldn't consider a clone, a made up car, a duplicate, a tribute car, right??
now when the factory built this car, it started as a body just like the slant car. it rolls down the assembly line and the guys build it according to the build sheet, adding the frame boxing, right torsion bars, correct leaf springs, brakes, then that 440 with the funky mounts,,, etc, then it gets interior and paint and etc like all the rest. ok so someone punched the hood and added the "rare" scoops. the line spits it out with that big honkin 440, and then the production is back spitting out the slants, 318 cars etc.
so then what is such a big deal!????? its a slant body with the funky parts!???? but yet there are guys willing to pay how many $$$$ for an "original one?"????
then ya got the "buzzzzard" building one with illegal vin, stamped block,etc etc ( o k so he had to find one with correct casting date...), he's ready to screw bigtime that guy that wants the "real" car I have to wonder how many people have been taken!????
so if I build this clone lets say, if I ever decide to sell it, yes I would say I built it that way, but.... would it someday windups up in the hands of someone that wants to try to pawn it off as " factory built"?!! .....
now don't get me wrong. I love the enthusiasm the "purist" has, his knowledge of that particular car he so covets, that perfectly restored, rare, numbers matching, correct right down to the original spare with 1969 pure air in it.....I applaud his ability to restore a basket case or his financial wherewith to buy one in any condition....
but...... if have one, I will have to do as Plymouth did, start with a body and add all the doda's!!!>>>>>>:LOL
