Hilary Stone wrote:
>
> Another identical one NOS in its original box turned up earlier this year in
> England. I think however that Campagnolo almost certainly used parts from
> their own parts bin. This derailleur came off a one owner bike and I think
> that its history is beyond question - there is certainly no question of it
> being a forgery in the sense that someone has deliberately put together an
> ultra rare derailleur. And Chuck Schmidt has come across a couple of
> similar derailleurs to the one I have turned up but has no other info on
> them.
As Hilary mentions, I have come across a couple, but I would put this under the category of a probable thing that the factory tried and maybe even sent out a few. But, this mixing and matching of parts is so easy to do on your own and since it was never in the catalogs or even on Campagnolo distributor's lists at the time, there will always be a question of its authenticity.
As an example, a couple of my bikes have been "hotrodded" extensively, in that the components have unoriginal finishes and parts changes. Extensive polishing and anodizing (black headsets, hubsets, chainrings and brake calipers), making up a "four hole" Super Record braze on front derailleur, reshaping parts (extending the milled flutes on a Nuovo Super Record seat post, profiling cranks and brake calipers, etc). Most of it looked factory original so that the next "caretaker" of my Dave Molton and Mario Confente will have a tough time separating fact from fiction.
Some of these modifications I made were part of the prototype Super Record group shown at the trade shows but never implemented with the production SR group such as the black headset, chainrings and bb cups. Other modifications I made were just "guilding the lily."
All this probably sounds a little obsessive and anal (WornoutguySam suggested taking your dog for a walk); I think a better idea is to take your bike for a ride...
Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, Southern California (Yesterday, 56 degrees, sunny and a 45 mile ride... winter has arrived in SoCal. Today, slightly warmer and another ride of course ;)