cheers guys
you may have guessed that my post on xpower was prior to finding out this little tid-bit. the chassis is no.26, and the previous owner posted as SteveV8 on Xpower. I've spoken to Dreadnought, and they also say water leaks should be a simple fix - leaking windscreen seal as one poster suggested? Can't see why it would take so loong to fix anyway.
I've spoken to trading standards, but i have to say i'm still quite keen - it's not as though the engine kept falling out! Anyhow, toomorrow i'll phone SMC with my findings and see what they have to say: they certain can't pretend they didn't know about it.
I did a basic insection and a test drive, and didn't get any 'bad vibes' about any aspect of the car (unlike one i looked at in northampton)

i'll keep you posted.......