We’ve got a 52 plate. The facelift models are the ones to go for as the engine has been revised but finding a clean one with good history was proving hard with most being kept by enthusiasts or going for quite a bit over book. We settled on a this one as it was (like the one you describe) a one owner full history example that had been cherished.
Great fun car, much prefer it to the mx5’s it replaced. Check oil and Coolant regularly. It really needs decent tyres, the owners club/forum has a few horror stories with people using cheap tyres.
There was a cool feature in last months evo on them, saying what a bargain they are. I have to agree.
Edit: don’t worry too much on the wheels all Toyotas of that era have alloys that peel and bubble. My other commuter is a celica 190 (53 plate) I am planning on having the wheels done and the mR2s after the winter.