It wouldn't hurt to turn it over by hand 2 revs to insure it turns freely, i.e. no rusted rings or water-filled cylinder. Otherwise, you might damage the starter or flywheel teeth.

I haven't noticed any pattern to tire wear in my two W123 cars. The outer edge wearing is most likely from excessive toe-in. Lay a straight-edge along each front tire and sight at the rears. With steering centered, you should sight ~1" off the rear (slight toe-in). You can also measure w/ a tape measure across aft and fwd track of front tires & subtract.

Could also be from excessive "postive camber" (tires leaning outward at top), but usually takes extreme camber to get wear. More a problem with currently fashionable low-profile tires and cars that purposely set much negative camber for better cornering.