Victoria Concours Red wax is good on, er, red and although its widely regarded as a doddle to remove I really struggle with it for some reason. Plus its more of a summer wax really. You could also try looking on the Dodo Juice site as they do waxes that are suited to red and other colours.
Definitely get the car clayed as it makes such a big difference for not much money. You could try removing swirls by hand with a fine polish and pad but your not going to get anywhere near the results you could achieve with a DA/Rotary machine and you'd need some elbow grease.
For me, in winter, I'd clay the car, follow up with a dedicated filler heavy glaze (Prima Amigo is what I use) then top of off with a good winter wax such as Colinite 845 or similar.
Where are you based as somebody local might lend you a machine or let you have a play to show you the advantages etc?
