Building a replica of an ultra-rare car can be cool......

I've talked to a lot of people who lust after certain cars but complain they could never afford one unless they won the lottery. That's true if you "gotta have" a numbers-matching Boss 429 or something similar. But there's a lot stuff that you can build for 1/ 10th of what a "real" one would cost. I'll list them in no particular order. # 1. 1969 Pontiac Trans-Am. Only 697 T/A's were built in 1969-so a "real" one in decent shape will cost you over 100k. However, Pontiac built 113,000 Firebirds in 1969, most with V8 power. 15 grand will buy you a nice one in any state in the union. Year One,Ames Performance and NPD all offer the hood,scoops and spoilers to duplicate the bodywork. The white and blue paint job is a no-brainer. Even if you did just that to a 350 model-you'd have the look. If you went with the Edelbrock Performer RPM package-( heads, intake, cam ) on a 400-you'd have a non numbers matching RAIV. Probably for less than 25 grand, which is a lot better than 100K+.  # 2. Thunderbolt Fairlane. 289 Fairlanes can be bought relatively cheaply. No, I'm not suggesting you search the galaxy and mortgage your house for a 427. But all "FE" engines look alike externally and 390s were used in just about every Ford car and truck built from 1961-76. Edelbrock claims 451 hp and 434 lbs of torque from their dual-quad Performer RPM package on a 390. You'd have the look, and I've said it before-magazine writers spout numbers flippantly, but 450 honest hp will make any street car into an absolute rocket. You can find BW T10 4-speeds on line or from Summitt, or you can buy a Top-Loader used. Or-it's a fake anyway-and a C6 with the proper torque converter and a good shift kit would give you better 1/4 mile times and greater consistency if you did want to drag race it. The "Teardrop" hood scoop is easy enough to find-Harwood sells them. You could build a cool Thunderbolt copy for a fraction of the price of the real deal.  # 3. Hemi Dart. You can buy a '68-69 Dart relatively cheaply. 340 versions are getting a little pricier, but 318 models are still reasonable. Mopar Performance and Summitt sell the big-block crossmember. That and a 727 Torqueflite are easy enough to chase down.  A 465 hp 426 Mopar performance crate Hemi is 15 grand. That's not cheap, but if you figure 10 grand for a nice 318 base car, 15 for the Hemi, a couple grand for a TCI built 727, 3 for a Dana 60 or Currie 9 inch rear end and you've got 30 grand in the whold shebang. A lot more attainable than the 250K+ that people ask for the few remaining "real" ones.  # 4. Boss 302 Mustang. Ford only built 1600 in 1969 and 7113 in 1970 so these bring a King's Ransom-usually 80-100k. However Ford built over 70,000 fastback Mustangs in 1969 alone, most with 302 or 351W power. 15-20K will buy you a nice one. The graphics and spoilers are easy enough to get through Tony Branda or Phoenix graphics. Edelbrock and Trick Flow offer "Cleveland" style heads that will bolt up to Windsor blocks and Edelbrock sells an "E-Boss" manifold so you could build a "Mock Boss" 302 or 351. Depending on the price of the base car and how much work you can do yourself, you could easily have a "Boss" clone for 25-30K. A savings of 50 grand over a "real" one. And since it's a fake anyway-why not build a stompin' 347 or 392 inch stroker and back it with a Richmond 5-speed?  There's others you could do, but I think you get the picture. With a little imagination you can have a super-cool ride at a fraction of the cost.  Mastermind