Sam, you raise a valid point. I have no idea what condition the slicks are in that Parnelli is looking at, but those that I pictured are (were) brand new.
I feel that anyone who puts those on his car has the right to say they are NOS. That separates them from something used by someone else. Knowing that this was the first time they were ever mounted on wheels is something special. It's no different than someone who finds an NOS intake manifold, puts it on his car and drives to a show. I think he has the right to say that it's "NOS". Sure, it's not still in the box, never having fuel or water in it, but it was brand new to that car. If a guy is lucky enough to find an NOS set of mags for his car, I feel he has the right to point to them on the car and say "they're NOS". That's just my view anyway.
Or perhaps one could say, "that was NOS". Now, if the guy wants to do a burn-out and scrub off the original shipping labels, that's up to him, but they're still "new".
No argument, just a comment.
Verne