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I would agree with the above rationale. But even today in some rare instances, parts on the assembly line can be substituted if they don't affect safety or government compliance restrictions just to meet production schedules/quotas. I would think 40+ years ago when things were simpler and less rigid, it happened more often.

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Different manufacturer, and modern times, but same concept. Last year when we got 2 new police Ford Explorers at work, the first thing I noticed was one had black painted mufflers/resonators. The other had regular silver aluminized ones. The VIN's are 6 numbers apart. I thought it was amazing. The guys at work just think I'm crazy for noticing it.