The 914 is like the X1/9 with balls.
In the case of the 914-6, those balls are big, fat, throbbing and rather hairy.
They rust out like crazy -specially in the battery area- but the mid-engined layout is a sleeper.. if you can find one that hasn't been eaten by the tin-worm. Weld a roll-cage into a semi-solid one and you have a bit of a monster... specially if you can get the 914-6.
Easy to maintain, cheap as buttons -just buy one in Arizona or somewhere else with no rain and no salt.
Otherwise yes... the 914 "Pizza-box" is a rustheap with no sex-appeal, and the intrinsic ability to make widows out of girls who married owners.
My friend races a 914, and a 951. -For his day job he owns a large metalworking plant. That's the kind of backup you NEED to look after a 914!
True, the 914 is looked upon by Porsche as a bit of a wayward effort, -and perhaps they'd be happier if they had never gone that way- but like the X1/9 it doesn't really match up to the same level of ultimate crapness.
Most 914's BECOME crap. When they were new, they weren't really very crap... even the 911 of the day wasn't the snorting beast that springs to mind when someone says "Porsche nine-eleven" nowadays...
The TR7 however WAS crap from the second it rolled off the production line. Every single last example to roll out of Speke (later on out of Canley) was a rotting pustule on the scrotum of automotivity.
Mark my words, the Boxster is the 914 of the future. -Not in terms of rust, but the comparisons are many: It's the "entry-level" P-car. It's favoured by hairdressers and poseurs. However, it's a BEAST at auto-cross. Get yourself a later Boxster-S, and you can work up a serious grin! Depreciation on the Boxster is about to hit free-fall, because there are SO many out there, and the 'cachet' of owning "a Porsh" is tarnished as a result.
The 924/944 also suffered the same disdain, and -like the Boxster- they were less-expensive Porsches. Like the Boxster, they too had almost no luggage spage due to engine and transmission placement, with weight distribution given priority over practicality. -The Boxster however excels at Autocross, whereas the last of the 944 turbos are stunningly fast on the track... For one brief year, Porsche forgot to keep the top-of-the-line 911 turbo as its quickest/best-performing offering. The 88 944 Turbo-S and the 1989 951S were faster in a straight line, quicker around the twisties, better balanced and MUCH less likely to kill you. Porsche quickly stopped selling the 944T/951S, before the 911 'cachet' was irrepairably damaged. -It wasn't until about 1996 that they ever built a production car which was faster in any measure.
While the current Cayman model has the distinct capability to outperform the current 911 model, you can bet your ass that Porsche has learned from the 914 (which -like the Boxster- significantly outsold the 911)... NEVER let a car challenge the boss.
Keith