I believe that the reason that this part was manufactured and istalled on the L34s was that the regulations at the time stated that "the exhaust was free from the first connection on the system."
So being able to read past the regulations H Firth and co realised that if they put the first joint right up near the engine the majority of the exhaust system was free hence it was open slather to do what they wanted and get greater HP from the engine
Smart people know how to write regulations
Smarter people know how to get around them and still comply but get the best out of the regulations while staying within their boundaries.