Wow what a great story. Even better that the owner wanted to make sure the car ended up in the right hands for someone else to enjoy instead of keeping it tucked away and something happening to it. Sort of like the, "One day I'm going to restore it or drive it owners" that will NEVER do anything with the car ever again. Of course this is NOTHING like those barn finds or car sitting in a driveway not to be sold stories we often hear.
Part of me thinks it should be preserved as is and the other part of me thinks you should take it out and do a big fat smoky burnout.