To close out this thread and answer the question of what happened to the car, we finally came to an agreement earlier this year and the car now belongs to me (which was a whole story in itself transferring a vintage title with a Euro-format VIN).

I fixed the sheared engine mounting arm when I dropped the front subframe out to rebuild it. Gave me direct access to extract the broken bolts and R&R everything that was needed. Front subframe rebuild tightened up the steering and handling by a truly shocking amount (no more 10-2 slop in the steering!), and I even rebuilt the A/C system that hasn't worked since 1998 and it blows frosty cold.

I've put close to 3000 miles on the car this year, including a trip to Houston and back with zero issues. That's more miles put on the car in less than one year than it had put on between 2004 and 2022. The car also made it to the Centerville GTG in October, which was probably the first car show that car has ever been in.