Jerry,
The fender flares on this car are a bit larger than my car, but maybe they saw the same body man at some point in their life. As for the possible clue on the inner fenders; There is a subtle difference in the inner fenders of the early versus later cars. In later cars the inner fender starts at the front and comes back to where it turns outboard and then goes straight to the outer fender. On AEX125 (an early '56 car) the inner fender comes back and when it turns, it turns at a 45 degree angle for a few inches before it make the straight turn to the outer fender. The distance of the 45 portion is wider at the top than the bottom, and is visible in the engine bay pictures of many of the early cars. I have not been able to put a chassis number to the change, but have seen the straight version on some pictures of '57 cars. When I originally responded I thought the short boot lid was cut in later than #266 ( and thought it might have been a 1958 change), so it may not provide any more insight into the car above. I also realize most of you have been involved with these cars longer than I have, so you may already know about this difference in which case maybe you can educate me on the when and why for the change. AEX125 also has another inner fender feature I was wondering about. There is an oval hole that looks original that is cut into the right inner fender at the lower portion. It is about 4" long and it's the edges are very clean and symmetrical. Any insight on this would also be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jay
