Ooh, Doc's gonna love that. It's Bottlehead btw and yes, the 1700 is an autoreverse version of the same machine. Actually, I'm not positive about the record facilities (if someone else can chime in here) since the 1500 is 1/2 track record and playback/1/4 track playback and the 1506 is 1/4 track record and playback and 1/2 track playback. It would make more sense to me that the 1700 would follow the 1506 format for record (since autoreverse is a 1/4 track convenience feature).
Most reel to reels should be able to be modified for wiring directly from the playback heads (or head switch on 1/4-1/2 track). It's just a matter of how easy it would be to do.