i loved my xr2, far from standard in the end, but a cracking motor. loads of attention as it blended in with more standard looking ones till engine was started.
g reg ones aren't rare per say, just the ones not registered till later as people were after the xr2i at that point and were just left over models. if anything i'd prefer an earlier one as they have the extra age value dependant on condition.
i'd have another, probably just a standard xr2 next time though, it did become a bit of a money pit