I was down in St. Michael's MD this weekend for the Mid-Atlantic Small craft Festival (but I digress), and on the way home, I think I got caught up a car meet leaving from OCMD. Many many old stangs, Chargers, and the like.. and WAY too many Chevelle and Nova SSs. They all can't be Supersports, can they? I found it fishy that not a single one of them didn't sport the "SS" badge
As many as the restorer can put the SS badge on. Truth be told, just like the GT mustangs, there is a large amount of fakes out there so all SS's should be buyer be ware.
Better still how many Yenkos? But I digress. I was hoping this was about the mid 90s Impalas. Always liked the look. I wonder how spendy those have got? 
I was wondering about Yenkos myself, livery can be faked,
It's referred to as "cloning" and it was frowned upon years ago, but now it's almost commonplace. I've gotten to the point that I freak out when I see a regular Malibu or LeMans, even more so if it's still got a six banger or a 307 in it.
I'd venture to say that there are more clones than original cars, probably by two or three times.
This goes for Skylarks as GSXs, Cutlass' as 442s, LeMans as GTOs etc etc.
I worked in the classic muscle car parts business for years, we sold a metric ton of SS badges.
I swear for a while every single "Judge" I saw at a show was a tarted up LeMans. The tell on those is if the trunk lid will stay up on its own, as the added weight of the spoiler required stronger torque rods.
Happens in the BMW market as well. Slapping a M badge on anything makes it faster.
In 1967 Chevy built 20 L88 Corvettes. One year at Carlisle I counted 27, all allegedly numbers matching cars.
Theres alot of 4 speed mustang gt's out there that started life as an i6 car too! Its another reason i tend to avoid shows. No one is happy with there lower end cars so they clone top of the line versions.
SS in Chevrolet speak is nothing special. It's only a trim level, not a performance package.
You could have a 6-cylinder Chevelle SS if you checked the right boxes.
slefain said:I swear for a while every single "Judge" I saw at a show was a tarted up LeMans. The tell on those is if the trunk lid will stay up on its own, as the added weight of the spoiler required stronger torque rods.
Happens in the BMW market as well. Slapping a M badge on anything makes it faster.
The good thing about Pontiacs is you can get the build sheet information from Pontiac Historical Services, so while someone can build a GTO to look like a Judge cosmetically it's a lot harder than most other makes to really pass it off as a real one.
As for the BMW ///M badge, that can be a little more cloudy. I have a factory accessories brochure from the 1980s showing it was a factory offered option on any BMW. Then there are cars like my M535i with ///M badges on it even though it doesn't have an ///M engine.
It's a lot of cloning and also a lot of not saving the common cars. E.g. The SS may only represent 10% of the cars built but like represnts 90% of the cars that are saved / restored.
Same thing with Corvair's. Not all that many Turbo convertible were made, but are very common as show cars. The 500 level trim was by far the most common trim level but are very hard to find now.
In reply to aircooled :
I actually -like- seeing a restored Chevy 210 at shows. Far too many have been turned into Bel-Airs.
I hate that many Safari's have been cut up so the Chevy doorknobs could build themselves a Nomad.
Yup. I get pretty excited when I see a straight 6's at a car show.
I don't think I have ever seen a straight 6 mustang at a show, and I am pretty sure they made a lot more of them then the v8s!
dropstep said:Theres alot of 4 speed mustang gt's out there that started life as an i6 car too! Its another reason i tend to avoid shows. No one is happy with there lower end cars so they clone top of the line versions.
A lot of it is reshelling rusted out high-end models, though. If you have a junk but all-there 289 Mustang and a solid 170ci... what do you do?
Knurled said:dropstep said:Theres alot of 4 speed mustang gt's out there that started life as an i6 car too! Its another reason i tend to avoid shows. No one is happy with there lower end cars so they clone top of the line versions.
A lot of it is reshelling rusted out high-end models, though. If you have a junk but all-there 289 Mustang and a solid 170ci... what do you do?
Admit the car started life as an i6 car you swapped or atleast swap the rest of the driveline and interior components that make it a gt. Well done clone cars like your pointing too are alot less common then just throwing a crate 302 in a mustang and calling it a gt. Im all for modding your car, but dont claim its a true gt/shelby/ss/yenko etc. Be proud of what you actually own/built?
dropstep said:Im all for modding your car, but dont claim its a true gt/shelby/ss/yenko etc. Be proud of what you actually own/built?
My thoughts as well. I don't have a problem with building a clone, just don't try to pass it off (or more importantly, try to sell it) as the real deal.
In my search for a 67 LeMans, I wish I could count the number of times I saw a "real" GTO with bondo over the quarter trim and a cross-hatch grille insert. I don't mind clones either. After all, I specifically buy the less-desirable version because its not going to stay stock anyway. Just don't lie to me about what it is.
If I wanted to restore something I would have ponied up the dough for a GTO. I want a fun, fast, modified classic, so I bought a LeMans.
... and in my life I have probably seen a dozen "real" 1970 Chevelle LS6 convertibles, even though there are only 26 left in existence, and none of them I saw had the W VIN code. I can pretty safely say if you have a genuine LS6 convertible, you didn't drive it to a white trash cruise-in at a Pizza Hut in Pittsburgh.
Im all for modding your car, but dont claim its a true gt/shelby/ss/yenko etc.
This. I don't know what it is a bout some "car guys" but there seem to be a lot of people out there with faked cars that aren't exactly honest. Some are really well done to the point that they are impossible to tell apart from the real thing unless you are a model expert. I can appreciate a nice car, but don't try to pass it off as something it is not. I'm glad some people are honest, but there are a lot of people out there at shows, or worse, selling on to others who are not upfront about their clones.
Just say: that's not a real ___
The owners of the real ones will look at you funny, the owners of the fakes will respond with honesty or anger.
Maybe people just preserve and/or restore the well-optioned ones while the inline-6 four doors got crushed or became parts cars long ago? Remember, a car from the 60's had to survive the 70's, 80's and 90's to still be around today.
So even if some guys would tear up over an inline 6 Nova today in 2017, it would have had to somehow have survived all those years just to still be around. An SS396 would have had a lot better chance (not that many of those didn't get chopped out or rusted out too) of making it to today in one piece.
"Of the 500 of this model the created by the factory only 2500 are known to still exist"
-some guy at a car show I overheard once
SEADave said:Maybe people just preserve and/or restore the well-optioned ones while the inline-6 four doors long ago got crushed or became parts cars? Remember, for a car from the 60's had to survive the 70's, 80's and 90's to still be around today.
So even if some guys would tear up over an inline 6 Nova today in 2017, it would have had to somehow have survived all those years just to still be around. An SS396 would have had a lot better chance (not that many of those didn't get chopped out or rusted out too) of making it to today in one piece.
There's a guy in my area who has a ~1970 Plymouth Barracuda (I'm not sure of the exact year but it's from that generation) that's one of the most basic cars I've ever seen - slant six, three on the tree, and maybe a radio, but that's about it. It's even painted a boring color. However, he bought it new, still owns it after all these years, and it's still in mint condition. I see him with it all the time at car shows and cruise ins. I actually like it, since it's so unusual today.
A guy showed up with a 1972 Maverick that was garage kept by an elderly couple and used as a DD up until about five years ago. Original light green paint with just a little bit of fading. It had the smaller strait six. Original green interior I'd really good shape. Steel wheels with original paint and the dog dish ford hub caps. It got way more attention than many of the "nice" cars. Even the story behind it wad great. The husband and wife that owned it met because they were both driving mavericks and when they found this one they had to have it.
dean1484 said:A guy showed up with a 1972 Maverick that was garage kept by an elderly couple and used as a DD up until about five years ago. Original light green paint with just a little bit of fading. It had the smaller strait six. Original green interior I'd really good shape. Steel wheels with original paint and the dog dish ford hub caps. It got way more attention than many of the "nice" cars. Even the story behind it wad great. The husband and wife that owned it met because they were both driving mavericks and when they found this one they had to have it.
My mom had a yellow 66 Mustang, Dad had a green 66 when they met. Dad's was V8 so they put a hitch on it and towed the Uhaul trailer to Minnesota after they got married and sold mom's yellow 6 cylinder. Bummer they didn't keep both.
In reply to crankwalk :
Then they could have had TWO mustang gts... 
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