Interesting comments and very much along the lines of my life-plan. I am a bit ahead of you age-wise, and also prefer to mess about doing the peripheral stuff, not welding the chassis and replacing the differentials etc. I got a Japanese import "superb rust-free example" as Kristian at Specialist Cars of York said - so it must be true. That was during covid, so I bought it online rather than checking it physically first... Ah well, I suppose if I had checked it physically I would not have bought it, but SHOULD I have bought it? Well, yes.
When it was delivered, I was like a kid with a new bike, but the remote locking didn't work, the central locking didn't work, the dashboard was ablaze with warning lights and error messages, and the gearknob came off in my hand.
I suppose it's my kind of project - stuff like door-locks, removing weird mods to the wiring, fitting perforated metal under the windscreen etc etc etc.
I don't want (= can't afford) a new whole engine from V8 Dev, but it would be good to have one that doesn't fart exhaust gas into the cooling system...!!