My name is Scott and the first car I owned was a used(up) 914. I don't recall the year or engine size because I returned it the same week I bought it because Its shiny red paint job covered a chassis about to fold in half.
My second car, another red 914, was purchased "on the rebound" from a Polaroid engineer who liked to autocross. It was an Ibiza red '75 2.0 with 50 series tires and beefy front and rear roll bars. It was quick and twitchy and a blast to drive until I learned the hard way what not to do on a decreasing radius curve taken a bit too hot! After replacing a bent trailing arm and wheel and what seemed like an eternity on a frame bench it was straightened and I proceeded to rack up over 100k miles on top of the 69k it had when I bought it. The beginning of the end for that car was an attempt to have the engine rebuilt out of state. After many issues and hassles with the rebuilder the car sat in my driveway on jack stands waiting for me to find the time to focus on it. Meanwhile my spare time and attention had been diverted to a Carrera 3.2 and I reluctantly sold the 914 and spares to a couple of car guys from Florida who proceeded to gut it and turn it into their track car. So much for my dream that they would restore it, eventually tire of it and I would buy back my first real car.
The car in the pictures is my third, current and best 914. It's a '74 2.0 standard (non appearance group) Michigan car that I bought on eBay. It's body and paint are in surprisingly good shape for a Michigan car, no doubt due to both the aftermarket rustproofing it received and the care it received from its prior owner(s). Mechanically however it was a mess. It wouldn't idle or accelerate, leaked oil and transmission fluid and had no brakes. All of the rubber was torn or worn out and half the comments of the fuel injection system were defective or missing. The last owner had "customized" it's appearance by gluing on flat reflectors in place of the side indicators and smoking the front and rear directional lenses with black paint
Thanks to my apprenticeship with the first two teeners and Internet forums like this, I was able to hunt down correct, used replacement parts for most everything that was missing or damaged and completely restore the car myself I didn't go all out trying to make it perfect. My goal was get it to where it would be at 86k miles if well cared for and properly maintained. The car now looks great and everything on it operates as it should. It drives like I imagine it did when new and I grab it's keys for Sunday drives more often than I do the 911 which is better suited to long fast road trips.
It's a rare drive in the 914 that I don't run into someone who asks about the car. Those that know the model are surprised to see one on the road in such good condition and those that don't know what it is think it's something new.
That's part of the fun of it, along with the smile it puts on my face driving a low, mid engined go cart, the nostalgia of owning my "first car" and the knowledge that I can fix pretty much anything on it myself!