My first race car was a modestly modified 914 2.0 (four cylinder). I had a lot of fun in it and scored my first race win.
PROS:
-They are simple cars. Really, really simple. Easy to work on, even from underneath.
-Most parts are inexpensive, especially if you get the VW part number interchange.
-Lightweight: mine weighed about 1950 pounds with cage.
-Interchangability with 911 stuff. Suspension, steering, brakes, wheels, transmission, engine, go crazy.
-There is no substitute for a lightweight, mid-engine car. Awesome steering feel and turn-in, great balance. Out-trail-braking 911s in decreasing-radius turns is great fun.
-Roomy interior. I was actually quite comfortable in mine on long highway drives. I even slept in it once.
-Lots of support
-Pelican Parts. They rock.
-Smell of air-cooled VW and burned oil come at no extra cost.
-LOTS of luggage space.
-I would Megasquirt.
-How many of you remember those super-cool flat metal turn signal stalks from the 70s VWs? 914 got them, too.
-PCA is a great club.
-Panorama is an awesome magazine (newsletter).
-Porsche Owner's Club is supposed to very good; not sure if they're active up there.
-Porsche Club Racing has very high-caliber drivers.
-Ain't nothing else like a 914.
-Top comes off, if you like that sort of thing.
CONS:
-Rust.
-Rust.
-Rust.
-Flexible chassis, even without rust.
-Leaks. Even after you replace the roof seals.
-The rear shifter (1970-1972) is possibly the worst-shifting manual ever. The side shifter (1973-1976) is only somewhat better. Upgrading from rear-shifter to side-shifter is supposed to be fairly easy.
-First gear is a stump-puller which sometimes makes for extra 2-3 shifting when autocrossing.
-Crappy seats. Easy to change.
-Poor oil cooling. Hey, it's mid-engine.
-Oil slosh issues. I wasn't able to fully address this.
-Weak rear semi-trailing arms. Reinforce these.
-Mediocre stock brakes. Easy to upgrade front discs and master cylinder; more expensive to upgrade the rears. But there was a rumored BMW 320i conversion that was supposed to be cheap and easy; look into that.
-Not a lot of side-impact protection. But not different from other old sports cars, or even an early Miata.
-Stock engines are mediocre but respond very well to hot-rodding. Very known quantity for tuning.
-Automobile Atlanta. Run, don't walk, from those guys.
-Adjusting the valves is a PITA, especially the two hidden by the semi-trailing arms.
-VDO tach will bounce. Get it rebuilt at North Hollywood Speedometer.
-Hinges on the engine lid and rear trunk tend to break and cause leaks. Not difficult to fix.
Bottom line, they have many of the excellent traits of the early 911s (simple, robust, light weight, classic feel) with the advantage of mid-engine weight distribution. But they have some of their own special issues. I always enjoyed autocrossing mine, even though it was never set up for that.
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