Yes modern nitro wears. Even though there is a poly sealer underneath its still going to have that classic look of being worn to the bone. I’ve had multiple nitro strats and I can’t keep them from “relicing” all over.
I have lots of experience with the earlier deluxe roadhouse model and it looks like it remains relatively unchanged. In fact, it's the first real guitar I owned. Mine had the tex mex pickups and I never used the selector switch and eventually took it out of the guitar, which turned the tone...
I'm glad it's not, the competition is what keeps Fender making great strats. If Fender was the only brand making that body style they could charge whatever they want for it.
I would definitely go for the classic 70s. I prefer the rosewood neck over the pao ferro and it looks like that model has good resell value. 300 is a great price.