I can't believe it...
I finally got in touch with the owner by phone this morning, and...
...he just sold it, thinking it was me, the guy who kept emailing, saying he'd take it.
I asked him if the motor turned over, he sounded surprised, and said yes. He runs a small engine repair business and he cleaned the carbs and said it idled and ran like a top. Surface rust only, a few hours with an SOS pad he said would have done wonders.
I guess it wasn't meant to be... argghh.