I have owned an AA1B with an O-320 upgrade (a Sooper Yankee) for almost five years now.
The only thing scary about the plane is me, as the pilot!
Seriously, it's an honest plane that will make an honest pilot out of you.
The O-235 equipped planes can be rather anemic on climb (unless equipped with a climb prop ... but I have no experience with that). With the O-320, I can get out of any place I can get into - typically climbing at least 800fpm on a Michigan summer day with pax. Then, I throttle back to O-235 fuel burns for cruise.
I'm based at an airport with a 2500' paved runway and a 2100' turf runway - happy and comfortable operating off of either.
It's a very responsive plane and a hoot to fly, as far as production aircraft go. And, it still turns a lot of heads at fly-ins ... people are always asking me about it.
I do fly with the canopy open. Mine is placarded for speeds below 130mph and only open about half way (which is plenty far enough). Typically, I just crack it open a whisker to get some airflow - which is just fine for a typical summer day. If I'm down low and it's a scorcher, another inch or two will create a really pleasant breeze without being windy.
(BTW - I do taxi with the canopy open a bit and have found it to be much windier and less pleasant on the ground than in flight, where the air is moving faster and perhaps more smoothly over the fuselage.)
The airframe is dirt simple. My annual inspections have been around $600 including minor repairs. I did once spend a bit replacing a cylinder (with the new cylinder itself being provided at not cost).
If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to try to answer them.
(Oh, and my plane just might be for sale shortly.)