In the below link to the photos, you can see how the side pipe mufflers are actually functional, but right where they exit, the "real" tailpipe turns "in" and under the car and out the back... effectively hidden by all accounts. I beleive the side exits share the same "wall" dividing the tail exit pipe, therefore I beleive just a simple mod is all that's needed to make them fully activate. The side pipes ARE real, hot and functional... the side "exits" just are not.
From speaking with Jim Price personally on this, it appeared he tried his darndest to make it work, and probably one of the big delay's of getting this Coupe out on the market, I presume. In the end, the "sacrifice" of driver/passenger enjoyment would not only significatny comprimised with true side exits, but it would have done so much to the point that it did not warrant any of the insignificant "benefits" of having them exit out the side.
However, with that said, once again, I beleive these could easily be made active, but I doubt once one would, they probably would never want to again, except for maybe the "purists" that want to use this car as a "show-off car" and bite the bullet with ear muffs and a facial respirator during the short drives around town.
I beleive at first the "sacrifice" of extreme noise and stink in the cockpit was accepted, but after this car evovled from a just another mere replica into an absolute work of automotive art all unto itself, Jim Price realized that owners would want to drive the pants off this car every chance they could, therefore, the side pipe issue had to be addressed one way or another... and in the end, Jim took the absolute best possible action for the overall respect this car deserves.
(side pipe photo located at the bottom of this page)
http://performanceunlimited.com/scof/coupe.html
/Randall