I have always felt that keeping the Comet name was a big mistake. The later ones were virtually different machines, but never shook off that name's reputation. Even now when I tell people that one of my earliest memories is flying in a Comet the vast majority show an instant expression of concern and alarm and say things like "You're lucky to be alive".
Perhaps when they were operational more airlines might have bought them but thought they would loose passengers with a plane whose name STILL seems almost as cursed as Titanic. Shame.