Cyclesmakaron aka Jacek - I am so appreciative of the work you have done. I reached out again the the recent seller of Z 1701 for more definitive information.
He is in the process of scanning boxes of photos and hopes one will be in there of the bike with a date on it.
He was once again (third time on this now) quite certain he rode the bike in the scanned photo of that race in 9/84. He kept the flyer all these years and while we all know memories can fade, it is clearly his strong belief he rode the Merckx at that race.
He also told me he was going to call his brother this weekend who bought a matching Merckx from the same shop. They ordered the frames and group sets together from Buzz’s. It has been some time since they spoke. He hopes his brother can provide more information.
I’m hoping his brother might sell me that bike too.
I know your research has been very exacting. I only offer what I know and hope to provide more.