Sad story about Grandma... http://azdailysun.com/lifestyles/co...cle_d682a12b-a068-576a-ac6c-9fd7efd17477.html
Sounds like "Grandma" needed a bit of attention, but was very savable indeed. I bet those impromptu naps were an ignition control module going south. An easy, cheap fix. I hate seeing a good car scrapped for something silly.
If they truly loved the car and had all of these memories you would not be contemplating using it as a derby car and you would not be scrapping the car. I don't see an attempt to sell it to someone who might enjoy it as they did.