When looking for a VM Image which can boot with 64MB RAM or less, I came accross the excellent image created by Iwan Rahabok of VMWare. (original post here)
I needed serial console functionality so I re-mastered it using the guidelines posted at
http://brezular.com/2013/10/02/core-linux-installation-with-a-console-support-on-qemu-image/
A few things like openssh server and nginx have been included and are set to autostart (called from /opt/bootlocal.sh)
The interface configuration can be modified by editing /opt/eth0.sh
The disk image can be downloaded here.
Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions.