As mentioned above, this car is anything from 16 to 20 years old, and will have had numerous owners in that time, any of whom may or may not have "raped" it. Given than it is an older vehicle, and has (at some stage) had various parts of the engine removed and replaced (painted rocker covers etc), and the scoop hacked open, I would say its had a fairly hard life (just to look at it).
Of course, this is only my view given that a) I've owned an AE92 GTZ (great cars they are, too), and b) the pics are bad. The only way you can be 100% sure is to get it checked out. Even the current owner might not know everything about the vehicle (depending on his or her technical knowledge, and how much they're prepared to tell you about its condition given that they're trying to get money for it).
If the price is low enough, this could be the base for a very good car. Parts for AE92's are fairly cheap and easy to come by, and the early 4AGZE engines are bloody strong, and very reliable. The suspension would be another thing to look out for. If it hasn't been serviced or maintained, you could well be looking at replacing shocks, springs, arms, bushes, CVs etc, which will all add up. The gearboxes in GTZ's are bloody strong, but can get clunky with age, causing "graunching" between gears if its driven too hard by a streetlight F1 racer, meaning either a gearbox rebuild to replace the synchro's, or a new gearbox (which is harder to source).
Of course ... you'll only be able to tell any of this if you go for that 1.5 hour drive (you don't enjoy long distance driving??). Take a friend with you, and a couple of good CDs, and enjoy some scenery or something. You might end up with the deal of the year, and at the least, enjoy a short road trip. Personally, if the car was going for less than $2k, I'd go and see it regardless.
Good luck
by PHAT|GTZ » Sun Oct 01, 2006 6:36 pm 
"
