About the amp draw: I won't be spinning the motor at ~55krpm all the time - just when I'm trying to hit really high speeds. For normal play, I'll be gearing down and/or using less voltage and/or using the EPA to limit motor speed.
Still not sure about whether to use two speed or not. But, I can decide that on-the-fly since the single speed/2 speed setups are interchangeable. I just have to remember to use mechanical brakes for the 2 speed. 2 speed would be easier on the motor since it won't have to pull such a tall gear on take-off, but the 1515 or 1521 are pretty powerful motors. My 1512/2d on 4s has no problems pushing my overgeared buggy to around 55mph, and I'm going to try to make this vehicle as light as possible.
For the motor mount, I will probably see what Mike has already and go from there - or make my own. Balance will be very important for something like this, so I have to really do my homework on device placement. The plan is to do a typical setup where the motor is on the steering servo side, battery on the other, ESC/Rx wherever it will fit. I'll probably leave the brake servo where it is, just pushed out to the side to allow room for the motor there.
Yeah, the yusa models are cheap, but I tend to break the same part so I don't want to have 5 chassis's laying around.

How long have they been around? I don't want to buy myself into obsolescence.