I'd say race the B44 - it's a race car, and would be wasted as a basher (to bash, I'd want 2WD and a plastic chassis! A B44 would need more maintenance)
There's quite a few options open to you:
Sensored:
Robitronic 5.5 for £75 + a used motor (check the for sale section, there's loads of brushless motors there - they seem to last forever)
Fusion Exceed 6.5T combo (effectively the same speedo as the Robitronic)
Xerun 120A and 60A combos from Hong Kong / evilBay
This Hobbycity/Hobbyking 6.5T equiv. combo
For a slightly greater budget, the new Mamba Max Pro is awesome (it's a bit of a whopper, but should fit in a B44) + any motor you care to try, sensored or not.
Sensorless:
Ezrun 60A combos on evilBay (many to choose from, two types of motor)
Mamba Max speedos of various types
Keda sensorless motors from Giantcod