Clones

[Maxedwell]

Well, this will open up a can of worms and I know everyone is very opiniated but I'll throw it out anyway.

What do you think about clones? I'm talking honest clones, specified up-front, that are period correct. Specifically - there were a limited amount of hemi-Cudas made. They go from $100k to several million in price. Suppose a guy (like me) has a Barracuda and wants to make an affordable hemi clone out of it? I'm talking full restoration and a new crate hemi engine. Worth anything? Will is still
"Wow" people? Object of scorn from purists? What do you say?

[4Cruizn]

We had a conversation about the subject of "clones" and came to the conclusion that there are no true clones out there.  They are all re-creations!  Alot of people are putting HEMI's in cuda's right now because they are bringing stupid money!  I guess if you can do it, go ahead.  Those two words . . . "HEMI CUDA" always get respect!   

[whitesatinmopar]

There is nothing wrong with clones providing the builder/owner acknogledges what he owns ! But personally there is only one reason to build a clone as far as I'm concerned, you can't find/afford one of the originals and that is absolutely the only thing that will make you happy. Why go to such expense, time, and headache to build such a car with the intent of selling? To me this makes no sense. I have what was intended to be a clone, the guy I bought the 72 B-body from had the body/paint/ and badging completed, but the car was still just a rolling chasis, I didn't change anything he'd done, but I really made no extra effort to complete his goal. I just wanted a fun street car to blow away about anything out there............I'm working on it.........it's been fun but at times a real headache. Remember a clone is just duplicating something that was made at the factory, if the factory didn't make it ya can't clone it! ie: a 73 R/T Chally big block, never existed, consequently, it can't be cloned.

[Carlwalski]

I say build it, your doing our hobby a favor by restoring yet another Cuda. 
I don't see why you should do it "show" quality though, why be correct?? Won't earn you any show points, it's a custom not a numbers. I've seen some wild customs go for just about as much as the numbers cars themselves.

Go wild and enjoy it...I would.

 

[Tropicalcats]

Nothing wrong with doing a car up they way you want. Just make sure it's presented as it truly is a Clone.
Kinda like giving your wife a ring with a 2 carrot CZ instead of a diamond and letting her think its the real thing.

Sooner or later it will bite you in the butt.

[70RTdroptop]

I've got a clone car right now, but I have done just about everything to this car so that it is as correct as possible in comparison to a matching # 6-pack convertible slapstik car. Nothing wrong with having a clone car, in my opinion, and they can be worth a lot of money, too, if done up right. Just my And yeah, who can afford a " real " car now anyway? I know someone who had an original Plum Crazy 6-pack 440 convertible slapstik car, sold it 1 1/2 years ago for $ 180,000.00 ( and knew he made a mistake selling it, wanted to buy it back 6 months later, but it would have cost him
$ 235,000.00 to do that! ) Anyway, that's a lot of money!! Whereas I got my clone car for a lot less,  still have all the fun with it , and it's also appreciating like crazy. Can't really go wrong there...

[chevyconvert]

 

Consider this:if you had a real HIGH $ r or v code car and someone took the fendertags and vin plate, and you didn't have a build sheet etc.. what would you have? A clone?
I don't think so, but what'd be the dif? Documentation is everything to some people, but you can't drive documentation.

[ReturnofCuda]

I see nothing wrong with it. If you can't find or buy one, build it. Mine started life as a 318c.i. Barracuda. It's going to be 340c.i. Cuda'.

[528 Hemi Cuda]

In answer to your question about clones.  Build the car the way you want it.  Don't worry about what other people think.  It is your car.  We have 2 1971 Barracuda's.  One is a recreation the other is the baddest Barracuda around.  They both started life as 71 318 Barracuda's and they still have their original fender tags and VIN tags showing they are 71 Barracuda's not Cuda's.  That is the only bad thing about cloning, some people try to pass off a fake car as a real one.  As long as you leave the fender tag and VIN tag alone there is nothing wrong with clones.  We have been there and done that with both clones and restored to the gills cars.  We like both.  Each car has its place.  What we like about our recreation and our custom Barracuda is the fact we can jump in them and drive them without worrying about destroying an original high dollar Car.  If you have one of the Cuda-Challenger calendars look for the month of April and you will see our Barracuda (Blofish).  Enjoy your car and build it the way you want.  Life is to short to worry about what other people think.   Have fun with your car.  If you want pictures of our cars give us a pm and we will email you some.  Have a great week.
Blofish and Pink Ice

[FY1443433]

I live in Florida and I have been to Big Daddy's Car Show in Ocala, and I have been to Daytona Turkey Rod Run and Carlisle, Pennsylvania and so on.  What I see there is mostly Hemi cars, no not real one, mostly clones.  It's gotten out of control.  Try to find a plain jane Challenger or Barracuda at a car show is unrealistic.  Don't take me wrong a lot of there we find today we have no choice but to built it as we would like.  I own a 70 Challenger R/T and I don't have the orginal engine, but I don't plan on cloning it into a Hemi Challenger, I will have to do something but just now sure what.   I guess I'll put 440 in it.

FY1

[cudabuyer]

BUILD IT, DRIVE IT AND EVERYONE WILL ENJOY IT. 

[hemi71]

I've owned "real" #'s hemis cars, and I've owned clones, or recreations or whatever else is the term of the day. I can tell you 98% of the general public does not care if it's a factory hemi car or not. And I never noticed the difference while i was driving one of those cars.  I know for peace of mind, i get less worry driving my clones than i did driving one of the factory hemi cars.
I currently own a 70 Cuda, originally a 383 4 speed car, it now has a 426 hemi with a tremec 5 speed and a 4.10 dana rear. I have the original #'s 383 engine, and i know where the trans is. All that said, I think i'll leave the hemi in it. 
It all comes down to this.....it's your car, so do what you want to do.

 

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[fishn4cuda]

Build it. Enjoy it. I'm building a 71 Hemi Cuda clone for my brother now. His car is an original 383, 4 spd, curious yellow barracuda. This will be the Hemi car he always wanted and the real ones are out of sight in price. It's taken us 5 years and $23K later to collect parts and we're just now starting the body work. I guarantee there will be alot more spending to come.

[ChallengerGary]

I agree with everyone here - I've "Cloned" dozens of cars (although only one had a Hemi in it). Basically, the R/T and Cuda styling cues are a  lot more visually exciting and thusly more valuable on any plain jane car.  I've also built more than a couple of "Phantoms," - cars that were never built by the factory but could/should have been.  The car in my signatrue is a '71 Challenger that started life as an "N" code  383 but by th etime I got it all of the documentation (excpet the VIN of Course) was gone and so was the original engine.  So I decided to build it as the car Dodge should have offered in 1971 - a 440 ragtop R/T complete with a Shaker Hood and A/C (although I sold it before getting the a/c fully installed)!

The main thing is HAVE FUN and Don't lie about your car (that's called fraud and I hear it's illegal).

[pink panther]

It is aql about what you want, it is your car make it fit for you and enjoy!