Laurence,
I beg to differ, but I'm happy to be proved wrong! My understanding is that all Aces on 16" wheels used a 5.50 Michelin 'X'. Certainly all contemporary road tests of early Aces, including AE 01 (UPJ 75), refer to the cars being fitted with this size of tyre.
Indeed I don't recall tyres in the 50s and early 60s being referenced by their metric size - 155, 165 etc, so I doubt the spare you have is an original.
Johnathan, I also question that the 16" Michelin 'X' available today comes from the original moulds. Sure, Michelin made the current pattern in 15" (it was a popular fit for TRs), but the pattern found on the 16" 'X' was a much simpler affair and looked like a number of unconnected 'bands' around the tyre. I say this because I ran an Ace in 1970/71 and suitable 16" tyres were very hard to come by around this time. About all that was available was a 16" Cinturato in 185 section that was too large, and a Michelin 'X' 'Taxi' but with a speed rating of 75 mph I think (and which diligent MOT testers would fail the car on if so fitted when presented for test.) I did eventually find a set of 4 16" NOS tyres after weeks of searching, but they were of the standard 'banded' pattern, as seen in all the various period road test articles.
Does anyone else share my view?
Regards,
Tim