Brain44 started down the right road though the AVRO 710 was a red herring as it wasn't built.
F-8fanatic has it.
Let's look at the clues again:
I'm looking for two types which share the same type number. Both
shared the same type of propulsion initially. One was a classic, the
other helped develop a classic. The classics had very different roles.
According to the manufacturers' official records one had a production run 202 times greater than the other.
Both type numbers are 707. Both were pure jets though the Boeing 707 later had turbo-fan (bypass) propulsion. The B707 is a classic, the AVRO 707 helped develop the Vulcan which is a classic. 5 Avro 707s were built, according to Boeing's official information on the 707, 1010 were built
The type which became a classic changed the world and had the classic
developed from the other type been used to its full potential, it would
have changed the world.
The introduction of the B707 changed air travel for ever. Whilst the Comet had been the first jet airliner in commercial service and was the first in transAtlantic service, the B707's size and adoption by airlines around the world opened up air transport to a much wider market and reduced journey times dramatically helping to kill off long distance passenger travel by sea and make long haul transport of perishables by air practical and economical. Had the Vulcan been used as intended as a nuclear bomber, the world would look very different.
The smaller of the two types first flew 8 years before the larger
aircraft, though the manufacturer of the larger aircraft points to a
development aircraft of its own which flew 5 years after the smaller
type!
The AVRO707 flew in 1949, the B707 in 1957 though Boeing consistently refer to the B367-80 as the B707 prototype and that first flew in 1954.
The smaller aircraft was the one built in smaller numbers. None are
now in service. The larger aircraft (which became a classic) was a
development of a smaller type, built for a different purpose. There are
few, if any, of the larger aircraft still in service in the form
intended though developments are in front line service. Meanwhile the
aircraft it was developed from is still in wide use in various forms.
One further clue - or complication(!). The classic that the smaller
aircraft helped develop was also withdrawn and only one flyable example
exists.
The first AVRO707 crashed, the remaining 4 were withdrawn in the 1960s. The B707 was developed from the B367-80/C-135/KC-135 programme. According to a UK enthusiast who visited Iran in September last to fly on their 707s, 2 were airworthy and in service, though one was grounded during his stay. That leaves one operating as intended as a passenger airliner in revenue service though their are a handful civil executive versions around. It seems that no civil freighters are flying but a number of air forces have passenger/freighter/tanker versions flying, plus the E-3 and E-6 versions and E-8 conversions. There are numerous KC-135 variants in service. The Vulcan has just one example flyable and under constant threat of grounding due to its dependence on charity funding.