Skwerly

Check out my blog entry and then discuss?

http://derekodomauthor.com/clone-car...money-savings/

Gorts 5th

Originals are rare and that make's em collector car's
only a collector can justify and appreciate the cost... say at a auction. these car's can bring big returns on original investment.
and some one with a original say on the forum here or say your average joe wont sell it for a new car it's a personal thing.
And for myself i would like a charger 72-73 and my brother a R.R. 73
If we can't get what we want we can clone it and make it personal.
Such as interior or custom paint or custom anything..
When i'm finished with my 5th ave there wont be one like it on the road
such as...
Custom hard wood center column, solid oak shifter handle. "i'm working on it now" hard wood dash and custom hard wood door panel's with suede leather, fiber optics, colored glass, LED'S-interior and running light's..
We can customize any in/ex-terior and the LED lighting raises the bar on the modern cars, we have in the work's right now custom running light system that no car company is employing. My 86 5th Ave will be a head turner and a totally original at every stop light.
And if in the future i get my Charger it will have the same custom options.

PURPLE HORONET

I like both the Satellite and the RR.. Would I clone one NO or as they put it today "Tribute car " LOL.. I see nothing wrong with painting it, changing the engine, hood,, etc. But changing the emblems I think is a no no. Why do it,, is it the fact your to cheap to buy the real deal.. I would get sick of explaining to people its a clone. Plus the looks on peoples faces when they glace over the vin number.

I do agree you get more bang for the buck on a cloned unit.. But I would still run the correct emblems that belong on the car.

bremereric

My white car is a clone. More than half way done at the Dealer. I finished it off with the correct decals and rear window louvers. Original ones could be cheaper or more money.

Skwerly

Yeah, I should have been more clear in that I did NOT mean cloning a GTX via replacing the badging and all that to make people think your Satellite is something other than what it is.

But if you like the body style, build a Satellite and call it a day, in my opinion. I plan to do just that, in fact, someday.

76 Doba

I'm not against clones. Besides the price, with some cars there are limited numbers, so finding a real General Lee or Wing car will not necessarily be the easiest thing to do. I do dislike someone not being honest about it though especially when questioned or trying to sale it.

Cloning happens within models as well. Plenty of Road Runners out there that didn't start life as a High Impact color 440 Six Pack or Hemi car.

TVLynn

It's your car so build it your way. BUT do not try and pawn it off as original

old tired rebel

I would say a clone or tribute car makes for a great driver. But some goes as far changing the vin and fender tags. which is illegal. Usually the people who pass them off don't get caught because the buyer isn't knowledgeable enough to check all the vin locations on the body.

PK1

I enjoyed reading the blog. Very well written.

Clone? Have at it. Life's short, make it the way you want. Satellite vs Roadrunner? I'll take either one!

Skwerly

Thanks for the comment and the compliment!

Moparod

I have no problem with clones as long as the owner is honest about it. I don't see the difference in changing the emblems versus changing the hood, or adding a wing or anything else.

Skwerly

Yep, I totally agree. When I used the word clone, I probably shouldn’t have. I just mean that if you LOVE the ’69 Road Runner simply because of its body style, then a ’69 Satellite is essentially the exact same car.

Plug in a hot V8, give it some body work and paint, and GO!

lou3500

I agree with this comment and changing vins/fender tags is just naughty and illegal!

rcknrolfender79

Your blog was interesting to read and I understand your stand point. Before I had my 68 R/T coronet, I just had a regular old Coronet 440 with a 318 auto set up. I was planning on doing an R/T clone with it, I was planning on cloning it as close as it could be cloned without doing anything shady or illegal like swapping vin numbers and fender tags. The reason being is I didn't have near enough money to get a real R/T. But it was a complete project and was a ways from being on the road. I'm not rich. I ended up having to sell it as I didn't have the money to do the things I wanted to do to it. I sold it for 4k. I found my REAL R/T 440 4 speed running and driving in Ohio about 1000 miles away from me. I drove up and gave the gentleman 8500.00 for it and drove it home.

I would have had WAY more money in my other coronet to put a 440 and 4 speed set up in it and get it on the road... What I needed for the clone... R/T or 500 tail panel trim and tail light bezels around 1000 or more if you can find them already restored. The power bulge hood I have seen them anywhere from 600 to 1500 depending on the rust. lower quarters for both sides a little over 300. rear window corners a little over 100. Clutch and brake pedal... Not sure I never found one but as hard as that was to hunt down I'm sure it wouldn't have been cheap. A833 4 speed 500 to 1800 depending if you want the hemi 4 speed or not. 440 anywhere between 1500 to ??? just depends on how much you want to build it. My R/T has the original Dana 3.54 posi in it. Which I also really wanted to put in my other coronet. That little piece of gold ranges anywhere between 1000 and 2500 if you can even find one correct for the car.... And the list to make it a proper R/T clone goes on and on and the price goes up and up. Not sure where this is at in price now I wasn't counting but it's probably a lot more money than the 4500 I added to the 4000 I already had. And I ended up with the real deal. Granted I did find a really good deal. But you just have to look til the right deal pops up for you.

Why not just restore the one I had and put a big block in it and paint it my color of choice and call it done? Well there are a few reasons. I am a HUGE mopar enthusiast. I have always loved the 68 coronet R/T. Why does it have to be an R/T? Well the slight differences in the R/T and the base coronet 440.. to me are enough to make the R/T just outstandingly sexy and super mean. I'm 23 years old now not married yet and I plan to get majority of the big material items I want in life BEFORE I get married and financially tied down. I also like the thought of having something that only a couple thousand people in the world can have. IDK why I just like being a little different lol Also it just makes 1 hell of an addition to my collection. If I were rich I would spend the money on the real deal every time. The value will only increase and any way you want to look at it, it's a great investment.

Also in your blog post your value of the 69 RR is a bit off. Majority of them are no where near worth 60k. There is a really nice 69 RR on ebay right now. Its a 383 4 speed car (not sure if its matching or a real 4 speed) but its got a buy it now of 17,500. I've seen running easy project RR's like my R/T for as low as 5000. Now if you want a Hemi car your talking a lot more than 60k most likely. Other than that your not going to find too many of the over 40k and for someone to even think of buying one at 40k it would have to be an all original 440 six pack 4 speed console car with ALL the bells and whistles. As far as RR's and Satellites go, I'd most definitely buy a RR before I tried to clone a Satellite. They aren't that hard to find and can be had for just a LITTLE bit more than a Satellite. However there are a few that would be a bit more worthy of being cloned. Like a Superbird or Daytona charger... Yeah if you don't have a couple hundred thousand dollars to drop on one. You could clone one and have a lot less than that in it. Would I clone one? Probably not. Those things are just so incredibly cool and rare that only the real deal would satisfy the urge to have one... for me anyways. IDK about you but when you have one of these cars a lot of people tend to ask you if its a real RR or a real R/T or a real whatever. And it really is a bit degrading and disappointing to say no. lol When it comes down to it I guess I'm just trying to say that in most cases, by the time you get done PROPERLY cloning a car your going to have the same amount or more than the real deal is worth. Only difference is, it just comes out of your pocket in smaller portions. Earlier you said that you weren't talking about putting RR badges on the Satellite or doing anything to make it a RR... Well thats not a clone, its just a fixed up Satellite lol. There is a pretty big difference in price between the two. No badges aren't expensive. But when you want to do a proper clone, it takes a lot more than badges to do so.

Here is the RR on ebay I mentioned

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1969-...ht_1870wt_1165

pro-tech

How about this? I'll patend a emblem that matches different car badges and all it will say is CLONE then you can put it on under the name badge and everyone will know and you will be totally honest. On another note, If the car is done right who cares as long as your not trying to pass it off as something its not. There all worth money and anything restored is nice to look at and drive