Gregg,
Trust me, it's not true. Brian liked to "play-up" the handwork and hours involved in building the cars. It took NOWHERE near that number of hours. Brian Burford, the late works manager, confided in me that the real number was much lower. And Autokraft made a tidy little profit on each car, how else would Brian have financed his buy-out of AC as well as his collection of motorcycles and airplanes (not to mention the helicopter, three homes and two boats....)
The "1600 hours" story made good copy for magazines and impressed prospects.
Rick