GCII/DL - Ship Components available before tech researched

I have recently picked up the game again, and started a new game in the same installation in which I had previously run the campaing and maybe one other game. 

Back when I first played the game, I saved some ship designs, to include high-tech components.

Now, upon playing a game from scratch, these customized designs are available to me, even though they contain components that should only come available once I reach techs that are years ahead for me.

I have built these ship types, and they were produced by the shipyards, normally; and have the abilities and stats corresponding to the high-tech components.

Is this a known bug?  Did I accidentally overwrite the default models?  Is that even possible?

I am playing with DL v1.53 - is that the latest patch?

Please advise!