Agreed Jonesy,if it is actually on display. Its tagged and messy and looks to be in the undisplayed storage section. Either way it seemingly appears to be a replica of an Automatic. Unfortunately the museum doesnt always know all the facts regarding some of its pieces. They rely on information from the Donor and often just a basic general knowledge of some items displayed. Ive bought excess museum pieces a few times and always they knew nothing,except what was on the badge,and occcasionally a brief owner history. I had to appraise them and show proof before I could purchase in some cases. Anyways getting of topic a bit,back to the mower. Whether this is actually an Auto,will remain purely speculation,But Id doubt it. Overall Colouring appears accurate,even with the lighter handle bar colour. Ive seen this shade many times for this era,as colour was sometimes not uniform. So we have An automatic with an incorrect base,and engine. The rest appears to be acceptable from what can be seen at this point. The question is how did it become like this? Is it Simply An old restoration to make a replica,You would almost certainly assume this to be the case. The boot does appear green as you say. What you can see on the end is the exposed alloy top,as it was not covered by the boot.
Since it would be unfair to dismiss this so easily without all its history,we can only make assumptions form what we know to be accurate...And this falls short in so many ways. Is it real or restored? You Decide...Since I can confirm this serial falls inside the early Sheerline run,and the later base,and lack of side guards.( If it was just the base alone,and not the Engine as well that was wrong,then Id re think my conclusions.) So Id say almost definately this is just a Replica. And probably should be left here to stop any speculation or confusion. Just my Opinion.
