Without going into too much boring detail of things long past, the original A/Ts were designed to only be used during Coupled Approaches to Autoland, as you know.
Having survived more than 10 years in the left seat of the DC-8, I can attest that I have never once seen the real airplane do an autothrottle (some where equipped) or autopilot coupled approach to minimums without something going pair shaped. I know the design intent was there because the sim actually would do it. It was kind of like the PMS on the 747-200 -- nice when it worked, but don't be surprised if it bites you.