Hi Chad,
Depending upon where you live, Spec Boxster would be a great place for you to race. I agree with Thorshammer that to be competitve you will need to poor some money into a non spec class car. And you probably know that any racing is expensive.
I have owned and raced a Spec Boxster since 2006. I was the Chair of the National rules committee for 3 years so I have some experience with the cars. I used to campaign a 914-6 and many members of the 914 World community helped build my car. You can do a search under "Lucille" and my name "nine14cats" to see several posts about Spec Boxster.
Here is the build thread:
Spec Boxster build by 914 WorldIf you are in a region that races PCA or POC, you are in a great circumstance as the rules are becoming more defined and in several regions (Texas, Southern California, Northern California) the fields can be the biggest at a given race weekend with 25+ cars showing up. PCA and POC also have more track time than other groups. I raced in NorCal and campaigned the car in PCA, NASA and SCCA. In SCCA I had the car classed regionally. PCA/POC have SPB, and NASA has the SPB/BSR class dedicated to the cars. Great racing from all of these organizations.
I have only raced the cars in the Spec Boxster form so I'll comment on the cars and their relative durability in that form only. Overall they have been very durable. I went 6 years of readline on my motor before it blew. While the motor platform does not appear to be designed for racing longevity, they tend to last several seasons of racing. Transaxles also appear to be an issue relative breaking of gears and R&P's. I suggest changing out the transaxle fluids 2 to 3 times per year if racing a 16 race schedule (my schedule during a full season). I changed engine oil every 2 weekends of racing and the motor lasted those 6 years. There was power degradation, but when my motor went, it was not for lack of taking a lickin!
I had my motor rebuilt by a shop ($7.5K), other's have purchased crate motors (~$8-$9K) and other's have purchased a Craigslist motor, swapped it in and won races the next weekend. Motors on CL can be had for $3.5K to $5K. Shocks, chassis, etc., have all lasted pretty well.
I wouldn't hesitate to go racing in Spec Boxster. Going to an open class because of your geography could lead to escalated costs to be competitive, so I don't know about that.
Just my $9.86 worth...
Thanks,
Bill P.