Hi Bruce,
Personally I don't like aircon. It's more weight, More complexity, More to go wrong, & whatever else your doing on the car you can bet that it's in the way. Worst of all it uses HP! Horses should only be used for pushing the car along. In cars of this age I'd say keep it simple. Open the sunroof.
Next £2500 may be ok depending on the condition. That's all that matters with these cars. If it's had lots spent on it then it could be a good car. There should be a history file full of receipts for the parts he's got for it. If not then it's too expensive. If this is going to be your daily drive then expect to fork out at least 1K a year on spares & repairs. That's an average. You will get good years & bad. Insurance is ok so long as you can get a classic policy. You should check first as you are not experienced! There great cars but the only real downside is when something breaks. You have to identify what it needs. Then wait for the parts to come. This means you can be off the road for a week at a time. But they are usually pretty reliable.
Have fun & don't rush into anything! Join the club first & go out in some members cars. Then you have a bench mark to judge others by.
so I would really recommend buying a car that already has A/C if it is really that important to you. Unfortunately the only variant that has A/C as standard is the Turbo which will be a much higher budget for a good one. There are Luxes and S2's around with A/C but they are quite few and far between so you will be really limiting your choice.
