I am representing an Aceca that plausibly has the correct engine. The story is below. How likely is it that the factory made a mistake? Anyone have any other stories of the factory listing the car engine incorrectly? Would there be tell tale signs if an engine was changed out for another?
AEX672 is known to have retained its correct AC engine since 1958, numbered CL 2356-W. It should be noted that AC production records of the period were not always strictly accurate, and sometimes changes occurred between the printing of the production records and assembly of each specific car. In this case, AEX661 and AEX672 were built sequentially for export to BC Sports Cars, and the engine present in AEX672 was supposedly intended during production for AEX661. The intervening cars were all Bristol-powered, and AEX661 is presently fitted with a Bristol unit. Since none of the prior owners of either car swapped engines, and it is doubtful that BC Sports Cars swapped engines between the two cars, the engines were most likely installed at the factory in the wrong cars, particularly since “matching numbers” was not such a concern back then. In short, AEX672 was almost certainly born with engine CL 2356-W.