For the last time....People building clones doesn't affect the value of the "Real" thing....

Got into a heated debate with a couple of  "Just as it left the factory" types the other day. They were bitching that people building clones out of base models "ruins" the value of the real deal. Huh?  How?  "Explain to me" I said-"If that's true then how come a real 427 Shelby Cobra is still worth $400,000 when there's hundreds of thousands of kit car replicas out there from Factory Five and others?" "How come an original 426 Hemi powered '70 Challenger is still worth $150,000 when you can buy a Mopar Performance 426 Crate Hemi for 15 grand and stuff it in a 318 model that you bought for five grand? "  "If I buy a '69 Mustang Fastback and stuff in a Boss-Nine crate motor from Jon Kaase Racing, that's not going to hurt the guy who has a real Boss 429 that's worth $500,000!!"  How does the fake affect the real one in any way shape or form, except if anything make the real deal MORE valuable?" If I put a GMPP ZZ427 crate motor in a '69 Chevelle and paint it like a Yenko,or put a 454HO in a '73 Camaro and paint it like a Motion Phase III car, it doesn't make a real, documented Yenko or Motion car worth a penny less!!  Then they started in about people selling fakes as the real deal. Well I'm sure that some schysters have screwed a few people doing that-it's the stupid buyer's fault. Think-if I'm going to pay $50,000 or more for an LS6 Chevelle I'm going to make damn sure it's a real LS6 / SS454, not a Malibu that some clown dressed up like an SS and stuffed in a hotted-up 454 out of a '75 Suburban!!  If I'm buying a Ram Air IV Judge-I'm going to make double sure it's a real Judge and a real RAIV backed by an "OW" TH400, not a LeMans with an Endura bumper and an L78 400 and a TH350 out of a '77 Trans-Am!!  Wouldn't you?  And conversely-the clone route is the only way most of us can have something really cool. For example $15,000 will buy you a damn nice 289 / 4-speed '66 Mustang fastback. With help from Year One, and Tony Branda you can build a GT350 copy that you can't tell the difference from the real deal without checking serial numbers, and your total investment would be less than 25 grand. A fully restored original '65-66 Shelby GT350 will bring 100K easily. A Ram Air IV '69 Trans-Am was for sale on RK motors website for $399,000!!!  The also had a Ram Air III model that went for $109,000. 15 grand will buy you a decent 400 powered '69 Firebird. You can buy the hood, spoilers and trim from Year One or Ames performance. Edelbrock heads are patterned after the RAIV heads,and the Performer RPM cam has the same timing and lift as the RAIV cam. You can buy the aluminum RAIV / 455HO intake from Ames or NPD. Your total investment would be less than 25 grand. You can't touch a basket case "real" '69 T/A for 25K, that needs another 25 worth of work!!  For $15,000 you can buy a nice '69-70 Mustang fastback. Edelbrock has aluminum "Cleveland" style heads with the proper bolt pattern and water jackets to go on a 302 Windsor block and "E-Boss" intakes so you could build a clone "Boss 302" for about 20K total investment.  A "Real" Boss 302 will run you $80K on up. And when your running up through the gears and smoking the tires-will you be thinking about serial numbers?  If you buy the stencils from Phoenix Graphics and paint a '78 T/A like a "Macho T/A"-I seriously doubt that Dennis Mecham is going to sue you, or that anyone who owns one of the 203 "Real" 1978 DKM Machos is going to be distressed!!  Get over yourselves people!! Mastermind