Today’s Nice Price or No Dice X1/9 is the epitome of a slow car that’s a barrel of inebriated monkeys to drive fast. Let’s see if this seemingly well-sorted example is priced to sell just as fast.
We all know that Mustangs offer some of the best bang for your buck of any car out there. But that begs the question of which version is the most banging. Well, based on yesterday’s comments, it isn’t the mid-’70s Mustang II. We were considering a restomodded 1978 Mustang II Fastback, and while it did look well put together, few of you were interested in it at all. That aversion extended to its $9,500 asking price, which ended up with a 54 percent No Dice loss and provided further proof that the Mustang II continues to be the marque’s least favorite model.
One honorific we can lay on the Mustang is for having created an entirely new car niche, that of the eponymously named Pony Car. That’s a pretty big feather in the Mustang’s cap. While the same can’t be said about Fiat and its X1/9 sports car, it is safe to say that if it hadn’t existed, it’s highly unlikely that later sports cars like the Pontiac Fiero, Toyota MR2, or even the Lotus Elise would have come to pass.
Introduced in 1972 as a replacement for the rear-engined 850 Spider, the X1/9’s mid-engine layout leveraging the transverse drivetrain of the FWD 128. However, it wasn’t just innovative in the repurposing of a mundane layout into something exciting and new. Until the advent of the amazingly space-efficient packaging of Tesla’s cars, it was also likely the best-packaged car on the planet. Not only does the little Fiat put its engine over its occupant’s shoulders, but it finds room to house its fuel tank and spare tire there as well. That’s all while still allowing for both front and rear boot space and room to store its Targa top when doffed. All this on a diminutive 86.7-inch wheelbase and wrapped in distinctive Bertone bodywork that still looks jaw-droppingly good today.
Balancing all that out were reliability issues, an interior seemingly made from tissue paper and good intentions, and Fiat’s faustian pact with the rust gods that tended to turn X1/9s into powder if so much as a sweaty guy walks within ten feet of them.
This 1975 Fiat X1/9 seems to be the exception to the rule. Not to being sassily styled and efficiently packaged, mind you, but to being poorly built and corroded beyond belief. Amazingly, this 40K Fiat is claimed to be mostly original. And all of the parts that aren’t have been either updated or improved in one way or another.
The car wears California Yellow paint over a chocolate vinyl interior. The paint appears to either be a respray or to have had some touching up done, at least based on the slight overspray evident on the windscreen trim. Regardless, it looks to be in great condition. Adding to the good looks, the car’s original U.S. spec battering ram bumpers have been removed and replaced by the smaller bumperettes from an earlier model. Extremely handsome and period-correct Chromodora mag wheels underpin and look to be wearing reasonably new Nexen rubber.
According to the ad, the cabin is almost as new, which is amazing considering that the quality of the materials on these cars was never the best, and on these models, they suffer the added onus of sitting out in the sun when the Targa is off. This one looks amazing, right down to the odd inverted shift boot. The carpet does appear to have suffered some fading, but considering the age, we can give it that. Another issue; Does it look odd to anyone else that the Fiat logo on the steering wheel is not sitting in the middle of the hub? Weird.
While the interior might be all original, the car’s mechanicals are not. The 1290cc SOHC four has apparently had a lot of work done, including pistons, a new ported head, and the replacement of the original 2-barrel carburetor with a pair of 36mm twin-choke Webers. On the other side of the house, the exhaust has been upgraded to an aftermarket header, muffler, and pipes. Stock this engine made 61 horsepower and 67 lb-ft of torque, giving the car a somewhat lackadaisical 15-second zero to sixty time. These updates should help it break that 12-second barrier.
Other maintenance items of note include various hydraulics, the clutch, and timing belt. All in all, this seems to be a sorted and tidy turn-key car. It also comes with a clean turn-key title.
Before we get into the discussion of the car’s price, I need to give notice that I will be sitting this one out. You see before I discovered girls, the Fiat X1/9 was my first love. I got to ride in one when I was 11 or 12 years old, which was around the time I was just getting really rabidly into cars. That experience sealed the deal for me. Your mileage may vary.
Ok, with that out of the way, let’s take a look at this Fiat’s $24,700 asking price. Yikes! That is a lot of cabbage for an old X1/9. But is it a bad deal for a mostly original (where it counts) edition with some smart mods (also where it counts) already undertaken? Or is that a good deal considering the car’s condition and the current market?
You decide!
Monterey, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
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