No, it is the same chain with the block limit lifted. The chain existed, it was the same chain; in fact it is more the same than Segwit; Segwit is a hack on the chain that makes the Bitcoin Classic no longer really Bitcoin. Bitcoin Cash is more original than the Bitcoin Classic. Yes, the name is new, the blocksize is bigger but it the code base is closer to Satoshi Bitcoin. It is NOT basically a new alt coin... only the name is. Technically it is more Bitcoin than Bitcoin "Classic". An example of a completely new alt coin that uses the bitcoin code would be Lite Coin. Lite Coin has its own chain... it is a completely separate alt coin.