Sounds like it could be a good un but you're right probably not quite what I'm after just have to keep being patient. Recently bought kniteriders 8v to keep me happy in the meantime.
I thought about a LHD car for a while (was considering the g60 option). I know everybody says they aren't too bad but I still think they would be a bit of a pain in the arse on winding roads when you want to overtake. I was recently thinking about it while in the passengers seat of my girlfriends car. I was seeing how hard it would be to judge overtaking, we were driving along behind a van and I thought the road ahead was clear so I would have started pulliing out, a split second later a car flew past in the other direction. That kind of made up my mind that I just wouldn't be safe in one and put me off.
As for an auto, I suppose they are alright if you just want to stamp on the throttle and go but if you enjoy driving and want more control I don't think I would go for one. Also there is the higher costs of repairing an auto and the fact that they sap more power.
Would definately look for a rhd manual.