What exactly is a Clone Car

[rgb30b]

What is the difference between an SS and a SS Clone? Or any car classified as a clone. Is it body style alone, engine?

Thankx

[MrPbody]

A "clone" is not a genuine article. A good example would be a '66 Malibu sporting SS markings. Take a '66 Malibu 2-door "hardtop coupe" and put all the SS badging, trim and drivetrain in it, a viola! A '66 SS396 (NOT)...
From '66 on, mostly, the VIN will give it away. SS and Malibu were separate models, having different prefixes on the VIN. Prior to '66, it's a bit more difficult, as the SS was an option on "Malibu". Same is true of GTO, 442 and Gran Sport. They were options on top of the "upscale" version in '65, and the "base" model in '64. There are some variations, but this is the jist of it.

In short, a clone is a copy of an original, but NOT an original. It's considered okay if you don't try to market or show it as an original. The word "fraud" comes into play if you try to pass a clone off as an original. A '65 GTO with TriPower is worth twice as much as a '65 LeMans, dessed up as a TriPower GTO. In order to "prove" the car, you'll need documetation from the maker to illustrate what options the car came with originally.
There's a lot of cloning going on with Z/28 and TransAm, especially the '69s. Let the buyer beware!