I once read an interesting fan-interpretation that due to their similar appearance they were actually the same ship, with the FASA incarnation simply being an extensive refit to TOS-era standards.
Star Trek has never been for me "it must be this, or it must be that.." - why can't it be both, or something different altogether? We are talking about fiction afterall. Over the years the ideas of what things look like have changed as graphics have improved etc. Personally I like some of the newer designs of old classes like some seen on Drex Files. Even now STO is busy rewriting ship classes into a form of cannon.
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http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/D4_class
I once read an interesting fan-interpretation that due to their similar appearance they were actually the same ship, with the FASA incarnation simply being an extensive refit to TOS-era standards.