Thought I should really update this thread to add that I ended up buying the car which is sitting in my garage as we speak.
It's a white 1984 SRi, imported at some time in the late 80s and according to the service documentation that came with the car it was originally a fleer car for York Borg-Warner Ltd in Basildon, UK registration B41 AEW. That's still showing on the DVLA database as being due for tax on 1 May 1988 so I guess that gives a pretty good indication of when it came down under.
It's been around the houses a bit - it's definitely been in Queensland for some time before the previous owner bought it and shipped it to Adelaide.
It's in fair condition - the major downside being the condition of the paintwork. It's crazed and peeling, especially on the roof, and has clearly received at least a partial respray at some point, most noticeably the roof and driver's side rear quarter.
However, it's in a really solid condition overall, especially compared to how it would have fared if left in the UK. I doubt it would be on the road now had it not emigrated. The sills are great, the arches are great, the bulkhead (from what I can see) looks good, the floor pans and underside are very solid as is the boot floor and spare wheel well.
If it was to be bodily perfect then other than a respray it would likely need a new driver's side rear door as this one looks to have been scraped at some point and has some filler in it (I'm not a big fan of filler in doors as it's likely to crack over time with the opening and closing) and a new rear valance which also has some filler. There also seems to be a bit of filler in the rear wing immediately behind the driver's side rear door (presumably due to the same damage as whatever happened to the door) and in the passenger's side rear door, but not very much from initial inspection. There's also a little bit of rust appearing under the bottom edge of the tailgate glass and there's a small hole just next to one of the tailgate hinges that hopefully won't turn into anything nasty upon some poking.
The interior's all there and quite presentable but some of the plastics have not fared well in the Aussie heat. The dash is very cracked (although this is hidden by a dash mat) and some of the centre console is a bit loose. Hopefully all bits that can be picked up over time. The recaro seats have been retrimmed in leather at some point - it's a bit hard but I'll hit it with a few doses of leather feed and see if I can soften it up over time.
It has been converted from an automatic at some point but not with original parts - it's got a Daewoo 5-speed gearbox (maybe a D20?) and the pedal area is a bit of a DIY job which I'd like to sort out. The ratios are a bit out on the gearbox making it's quite low geared so I'd like to source an F16 box as my first priority to make it more standard. I'll be on the lookout for pedals too - although I might be able to source this stuff from local cars like the Camira.
Over time, probably years, I'll sort out the bodywork - but in the meantime it will be good to give it some use
Some pictures will follow shortly...