I won't disagree there mate.
One cab car unit would suffice as a physical display piece. Although the guts and stuff from the motor car would be okay to put on display stands too. However if a complete unit was to be preserved. Then one of the heritage railways would be a better bet as then they could use it as coaching stock with most air-braked locomotives.
Although one of the troubles with preserving mark 1 EMU stock has been that many railways have been unable or unwilling to use such stock (even as hauled vehicles) hence why it often only emerges for special events or just rots in a siding. See for example one of the Lymington units (the green one I think), which is perpetually for sale for this very reason.
While I would love to see a complete 442 preserved, the huge amount of space it would take up, combined with the fact that (unlike those mark 1 EMU vehicles) it doesn't look like heritage stock, and the fact most heritage EMU groups are short of cash and/or volunteers (see eg the Southern Electric Group, which might have been the prime candidate to launch a bid but is struggling to maintain 4Cor 3142) make it unlikely. Perhaps the only exception would be if a railway wanted to acquire 'modern' stock for filming purposes - but ironically enough that role seems often (eg Ecclesbourne Valley) to be occupied by the old mark 2 GatEx stock, which Porterbrook sold at very low prices.
