The seller of today’s Nice Price or No Dice Fiat X1/9 claims it is “cosmetically very original, but has quite a few good modifications.” Let’s see if we like the price or if it needs some changes.
If you’ve ever been told to “slow your roll,” it might not have been an admonishment but a suggestion to buy the 1982 Peugeot 505 turbo diesel we looked at last Friday. With a zero to sixty time in the upper teens, that Pug isn’t going to win many races. But at just $2,500, it did win our appreciation and a 72 percent Nice Price victory in the voting.
Slow as it might be, the 505’s handsome Pininfarina styling ensures everybody enjoys the view as it trundles along. Today’s 1980 Fiat X1/9 is another slow car with great styling, although its good looks come from the house of Bertone and styling legend Marcello Gandini. Not only is it a looker—the wedge of cheese styling appears just as fresh today as it did when new—but it’s also a masterclass in packaging design.
Fiat invented the modern design for FWD cars, employing a transverse engine and end-on gearbox that sends power to the front wheels through unequal-length half shafts. Fiat first tested this layout in the Autobianchi Primula and took it mainstream in the 128. The X1/9 was the first production sports car to take a transverse FWD drivetrain and move it to the back, making for a rear mid-engine layout.
The innovation doesn’t stop there, either. As small as the X1/9 is, it still manages to have both front and rear trunks, a removable Targa roof that stores in the front trunk, and houses its fuel tank and spare tire within the wheelbase, both mounted vertically sandwiched between the cabin and the engine compartment. It’s like a magical Bento Box on wheels.
This 63,175-mile example offers all of the later edition’s updates—a bigger 1.5-liter fuel-injected engine, improved interior, and better-integrated bumpers—and has enjoyed a slew of work undertaken to make it an easy turn-key collectible.
Some of those updates are laudable, while a few are open to question. The rebuilt engine, refreshed gearbox, resprayed paint, and upgraded brakes are high on the want column. On the other side of the table, there’s the seemingly kludged-together engine management system that leverages a Megasquirt controller for fuel injection and an electronic ignition driver from Ford. Top that off with a catalytic converter delete, and options become limited regarding where this Fiat could be easily registered and meet smog standards.
If that is not an issue in your neck of the woods, then this little X1/9 has lots to offer. It looks stunning in its ruby red paint and Cromodora alloys. The only obvious visual blight on the exterior seems to be some waviness in the rubber snood around the front bumper, which gives the car a bit of a sneer.
In the cabin, things look amazingly intact and inviting, something remarkable since, historically, X1/9 interiors tended to have the durability of institutional toilet paper. Nothing here shows excessive wear, and the color combo perfectly compliments the exterior hue. It even still has the goofy beer tap shift knob for the five-speed that’s not exceptionally comfortable to use but does look all artsy-fartsy. X1/9-branded mats keep the carpet clean but look out of place due to their contrasting color.
According to the seller, who is an X1/9 aficionado, the car’s quirks include some minor clear coat issues, carpet wear under the accelerator pedal, and, most notably, an occasional issue with the Frankenstein fuel injection that requires a restart to settle down. Apparently, that could be cured with some remapping of the Megasquirt controller, but good luck finding someone to tackle doing that.
When it was in production, the X1/9 outlived its maker, Fiat, in the U.S. market by more than half a decade. Fiat pulled up stakes here in 1982, but the X1/9 continued on, independently imported by Malcolm Bricklin (yes, that guy) and marketed as a Bertone until 1989. By 1990, hot hatches and, honestly, the debut of Mazda’s MX5 Miata spelled the end for the X1/9.
Today, these are considered minor classics and can be an excellent and affordable way to get into a fun, collectible car without breaking the bank. Would this one fit the bill at its $12,000 asking price?
What do you say? Is that a good deal, and do the mods help or hurt this X1/9’s chances at that asking price?
You decide!
Seattle, Washington, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to RevUnlimiter for the hookup!
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