The car which was driven by Davide Cironi now belongs to a member of RepartoCorse2 (Italian forum). At the time it was tested, before the current owner fixed all that was needed, it was in poor condition as far as the handling / suspension was concerned.
I, too, reasoned along your lines when I bought my 2.24v, but changed my mind and performed a complete change of all the spherical joints and of the 4 bearings code 326656310 (manual table drawing 35, part No.34) as my car definitely needed it. The steering feels better now - not as direct as one may wish but it is OK IMO.