Playing 1e - we junked racial class and level restrictions after the first campaign or two. They just feel so arbitrary. There's no real ramifications from doing this.

If I were doing it again today, I would be tempted to go the whole hog, and allow 3e-style advancement, where you level up one class at a time, selecting the class when you've earned the level. Of course that implies everyone works from the same XP table, but that seems a tolerable change.

Stat requirements: the idea of 1e is that you make the best of what you've got, and if that doesn't allow you to play "your character concept", then you need to rethink your concept. You may want to be Merlin, but that sort of power just isn't given to everyone. That's sort of the whole point. I believe 2e diluted this somewhat, with some of the optional rolling rules, but I think the basic mindset is still the same.