Regarding rumours, I was with AE from start to finish. Peter Phillips, the engineering director, visited Rome to inspect a couple of Alitalia 747/200's when I was on the 737/200 in 1981 or 82, but that came to nothing.
I can't remember DC10's ever being talked about, unless they were a result of the BCAL take-over that never happened. ISTR remember some of us thought the MD11 was a bit of a gamble and going for B767-300's would have been a better bet.