I agree it's really doubtful this is original. I do agree with Flounder that
it certainly COULD have been done at John Thompson Motor Pressings, the body
builder, and put into the flow of assembly. More likely the car was a
receipient of an accessory add-on, it would be interestingto see an ad for the
kit to match up the shape of the trunk and the L-handle latch. The inner
structure of the lid looks a bit flim-flam, like an accesory builder would
maybe make up. The label on the outer panel of the foot well is maybe a clue
of who either made the kit or installed it (AEI in Clinton, MD), NO mention is
made of that decal in the auction at all.
I would tend to believe that it would be pretty tough to distinguish if this
was an accessory or a "factory" job, if it were that rare the process would
MORE than likely be identical anyways (cut hole, install outer frame, install
hinges and brackets for latch, install deck lid). The factory quality of work
back then could certainly be duplicated at any decent body shop at that time.
Would certainly be hard to detect the difference at this point in time!
Especially with THAT car!! I see in the pics that the decklid is even
seperating, by I digress.
Of course even if NO mention is made in the BMIHT certificate of the
originality (nothing noting **Special Rare Trunk Option by Order of HRM the
Queen**), you might be tipped off by the presence of TWO key codes, unless for
some reason they keyed the ignition and trunk the same, this is not how it was
on a Mk2 Sprite, unsure how this was done on other late 50's era Healeys, but
worth thinking about that when viewing the certification.
Dan
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