I appreciate the help on this. I ended up losing out on this one--the winning bid came in over $300!!!
I was pretty disappointed since I thought I had a pretty good bid in. Something about the idea of an old steel beast just appeals to me.
I posted on CL here in the Dallas area asking if anyone had a road bike that would fit me (60-62cm) in the $250 range and got a nibble. It's not an "old steel beast"--its a 2005 Trek 1200--but I think it will get me into a road bike and give me the time I need to patiently troll CL, ebay, pawnshops and garage sales looking for my first "project".
Still, that LeMans looked pretty sweet.....
Again, thanks for all the help and advice. You saved me from myself!