ORIGINAL: RoswellGrey
Actually, something I've never understood about some car enthusiasts is their apparent fear of "clones." So what if a Challenger rolled out of the factory with a slant 6 and and today is sitting in a nice garage with a 440 and R/T badging? If all the proper parts are there, to me at least, that makes it an R/T. It's kinda like people who put stock in cars with matching numbers. Personally, I've always felt that if a person goes to the trouble of rebuilding an old car and used new(er) parts, it shows they obviously cared for the vehicle. Just my 2 cents worth on the subject.
The only problem I can see is it is unfair to sell a base model and falsely claim it's a 440 R/T. The simple fact is that if there were say (I'm making these numbers up) 150,000 Challengers sold in 1970 and only 2,000 R/T models made with the 440 six-pack with a manual, you would be willing to pay more for one of the 2,000 models than you would for a Challenger that had a 440 six-pack added years later with an R/T badge added after market, on a Challenger that was originally equipped with a 170 slant six and an automatic because the R/T is more rare. Even if you add everything exclusive to the R/T, it is still technically not an R/T unless it was one of the 2,000.
The reason why it is unfair to sell it that way is if someone buys a Challenger thinking it was one of the 2,000 R/Ts with a 440+6, they will pay more for it because there is a higher demand for one. Then years later when the person needs to sell it (can't afford it anymore, needs the money desperately), they try to sell it at the same price or a profit, but suddenly they discover it wasn't a one of the 2,000 but originally a slant six. They can't get a fraction of what they paid because no one wants a false model as badly. They are up a creek.