john,
you need to keep in mind that maybe 99.9% of the cars shipped to the states were bare bone cars with no add ons. many of the cars going to jacksonville didn't have heaters since they were intended to be sold in the sunny south. optional rootes items along with many aftermarket items were added on by the dealers. the cars were sent to distributors that sold the cars to the dealers. for that reason a lot of your reasoning doesn't apply to stateside cars. understand that anything could be added to a car when sold, making added on rootes items original to those cars if installed by the dealer even though they were not a factory installed item or were or were not in your factory brochure. this was probably true for all imports at that time. give some thought to the fact that what may have been right in your part of the world was not being done here in the states since dealers worked under a master dealer.
Bob
What you need to keep in mind is that every car that went to the US is listed at the archive centre here in the UK with its build and specification. The way the Rootes dealerships worked here in the UK were no different to those in America. All Alpines had very few optional extras available from the factory, everything else including heaters etc were Rootes dealer accessories, fitted by the dealer. I enclose an extract from an article that Ian Spencer wrote some time ago, which gives an insight into how cars could be delivered from the factory and the Rootes optional accessories that could be fitted at any time afterwards. This was the same procedure in the UK as the US:
Ian Spencer: Optional Extras & Special Accessories
"Believe it or not, there is a slight difference between Optional Extras and Special Accessories. Optional Extras were available at extra cost and were provided by the factory with a vehicle order. Special Accessories, featured in the Rootes Special Accessories Brochures, could be purchased or ordered from the dealership at any time before or after the car was delivered. Some Optional Extra's were also considered Special Accessories, like the hard top, heater and radio, BUT Special Accessories aren't to be considered Optional Extras. Special Accessories were only available through a Rootes dealership. A vehicle arriving at the Rootes dealership was not loaded with accessories. It was up to the dealer to add accessories to a car at their own discretion, prior to putting a vehicle on the lot.
Rootes Optional Extras (To be specified at time of vehicle order. Factory installed.)
Hard top (Standard equipment on GTs)
Overdrive Transmission
Radio (Ecko, Pye, Radiomobile)
Heater (Standard equipment on GTs)
Wire wheels
Road speed tyres
White wall tyres
Auto transmission Series IV
Special Accessories (To be purchased or ordered through Rootes dealership. Dealer installed.)
Ammeter kit
Anti mist panel or Demister kit (Hard tops only)
Automatic boot lamp
Auxiliary control panel
Auxiliary fog lamp
Auxiliary driving lamp
Axle kit (Disc wheels) 25 spline
Badge bar
Badge bar mounting bracket
Badge clip, screw fixing
Badge clip, pillar stud fixing
Battery charger
Bonnet flash or motif
Boot floor mat
Blower kit
Brush on paint
Cigar lighter
Cockpit cover (tonneau)
Door / wing mirror, convex glass
Door / wing mirror, flat glass
Electric clock
Engine oil cooler kit
Fire extinguisher, 8oz.
Fire extinguisher, 16oz.
Gear lever lock kit
Hard top (Standard equipment on GTs)
Heater and demister kit (Standard equipment on GTs)
Interior cleaner
Interior sunvisor kit (Standard equipment on GTs)
Lamp carriers
Liquid polish
Luggage grid
Map pocket
Micro-element air cleaner
Mud Flaps
Multipurpose cushion
Owner's handbooks
Parking light
Petrol tank locking kit
Radiator blind
Radio (Ecko, Pye, Radiomobile)
Radio antenna wing mirror
Rear seat cushion
Rebound wing mirror, convex glass
Rebound wing mirror, flat glass
Reverse lamp kit
Safety belt, 3 point
Safety belt, lap strap
Seat covers
Switch kit, driving / fog lamp
Tool kit
Tyre inflator
Under bonnet lamp kit
Windscreen washer
Workshop manuals"