Avoid the M4A1. The Continental R975 radial gasoline aircraft is a fuel hog and is air-cooled, overheating easily. And genuine 100-octaine AvGas is getting hard to find these days.
Consider a Lend-lease M4A2- hard to find- with a Diesel powerpack instead, or possibly one of the Israeli M51 rebuilds, which were both upgunned and refitted with a Cummins 460hp Diesel engine.
