I used to maintain a row of about 10 of these about 30 yrs ago, both AutoWard 2's and 3's. The early one's were a real pain ( we had some of the very first on the market )fault finding was a nightmare, but they got a lot better with the later models which were actually quite a good lathe.
The plugboard was mounted on top of the headstock and was an early form of N.C., it was about as big as a t.v. set and all the functions were controlled by placing special pins in the plugboard matrix ,i.e. if you wanted the spindle to run at say 600rpm you put your pin in the hole in line with the 600rpm selector.
It would be absolutely essential to have the all the handbooks for this machine ( I have pristine copies of the Operators Manuals you could have with pleasure),you would especially need the Maintenance/Fault Finding Manual ( which I don't have any more).
H.W.Ward was a major machine tool maker who made thousands of rugged ,durable capstan and turret lathes that are still in use all over the world but the AutoWard wasn't one of their better efforts. They are now a small time operation just making a living selling spares, draw your own conclusions. They went down the hydraulic drive road when the smart money was on stepping motors, timing belts and ballscrews.
If someone gave me one of the later ones I might be interested but I'd be loathe to spend any money one, I suppose it all depends what you want to do with it. If you need any more advice feel free to ask. Regards Tyrone.