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That sounds like my car - 'Safari Yellow' with black interior. Mine *used* to be quite nice, but it was my only car and Missouri salted winter roads ate it up despite plenty of washing.
What to look out for - rust. Rust rust rust (like the 3 most important things in real estate - location, location, location!). Everything on the 1800 is welded on, no body panels bolt on and off. Everything is a complex curve, there are lots of little covities and crevices that collect moisture and rust. Body shops will charge an arm and a leg to repair them, and (from what I've seen) will rarely ever do a good job. It's well worth the effort (IMO) to keep on looking until you find one with a nice unwrecked unrusted body, regardless of the mechanical or interior condition. Everything else can be repaired/replaced/renovtated to as-new condition.
As for driving one? It's a wee bit of a let down, given the sporty looks. They are just as heavy as a sedan, despite the tiny interior room. Unless you tweak the motor a lot very humble modern econoboxes will dust you at stoplights without even trying. The interior is an ergonomic mess - with some controls (like the heater) hidden out of sight underneath the edge of the dash. The window line is high. The back seat is a joke, even little kids don't have enough room. The trunk is tiny too, unless you leave the spare tire at home. Cornering ability of a stock car is very vintage in nature, lots of lean, not much grip. Positives - neat view out the front with the fenders framing the way. Nice direct light undiluted steering (assuming you can find a shop to align it properly - most won't want to mess with those little shims). Solid if a little industrial shifter. Dead reliable compared to practically any other sports car of the period I can think of. Very tough mechnically. Very rare and distinctive.
For some reason, I find my PV much more entertaining to drive, although that might be because it it modified in many ways, while my 1800E is still bone stock.
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I'm JohnMc, and I approved this message.
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