Barry Harvey knew what was needed, (Harvey titanium was in Santa Monica) trouble was concern about market acceptance, a "welded" frame was looked down upon in the steel world.
If he had given himself the freedom of a straight leg fork, and under the bottom bracket cable routing, the only issue would have been with the shifter mounting.
Licked that and the downtube could have even been bigger.
But, was the market ready for such radical change in1974?