When talking about mid-engined sports cars, the Fiat/Bertone X1/9 often gets overlooked. Smaller than even a Porsche 914, these miracles of efficient design were quite advanced for their time. With over 160,000 made, they obviously struck a chord with a portion of the market. Why are they so rarely mentioned today? This one, a 1982 Fiat X1/9 for sale on Craigslist in Chicago, Illinois is probably the finest example left. With just 9,000 miles on the odometer, is this perfectly preserved sports car worth the $15,000 asking price? Thanks to Rocco B. for this Fiat find!
If you were a car enthusiast in the sixties and seventies, you have some understanding of just how influential Grupo Bertone was in vehicle design and production. This one-stop shop for mainly European manufacturers could design, engineer, and produce vehicles in smaller amounts. In other words, if you were an automaker and wanted a sportscar without all the work entailed in designing and building it from stem to stern, Bertone was the place to go. Amazingly, their “folded paper” designs looked great no matter the foundation. Bertone’s angular styling looked good on everything from Isuzus to Volvos.
When Fiat wanted to produce a successor vehicle for the Fiat 850, they went to Bertone. Using the engine and transmission from the then-new Fiat 128, Bertone designed a mid-engine targa-top sports car. The resulting design managed to stay in production from 1972 through 1989. With three major and many minor updates along the way, the X1/9 looked as fresh on the last day of production as it did when it debuted in late 1972. Over 160,000 were produced.
Of those 160,000, around 100,000 were sold in the United States. From its introduction to our market in 1974 through 1982, Fiat imported the X1/9. Fiat pulled out of the American market that year, but the car was imported and marketed by International Automobile Importers until 1987 as the Bertone X1/9. This company was run by Malcolm Bricklin. Yes, that Malcolm Bricklin. The last two years importation was handed off to a company called M.I.K. Automotive out of North Hollywood, California. By 1989, production was finished and no successor was built.
That’s a shame because the Fiat X1/9 was a good concept. Smaller and lighter than its contemporaries, first the Porsche 914 and later the Pontiac Fiero and the Toyota MR-2, the X1/9 was exceptionally well packaged. The engine is, of course, in a compartment behind the cabin along with the fuel tank. Opening the hood reveals far more room to perform basic maintenance than a Porsche 914 offers, but it is still a tight fit. If you wanted the open-air experience, the Targa top nestles tightly in the front trunk compartment. Both the front and rear trunks offer an amazing amount of room given the size of the car.
The car you see here appears to be a 1982 model that was imported by Fiat. 1982 was the transition year when Bertone assumed production and Bricklin’s company took over importation. By this time, a five-speed had been fitted and all US cars came equipped with fuel injection. Changes had been made to the dash and the footwell was modified to offer more cockpit room for taller passengers. This X1/9 is probably the nicest example you could find on the market. The odometer reads just 9,000 miles and the ad tells us that this little sports car spent its whole life in a climate-controlled garage. Advertised as a Bertone with a window sticker that says Fiat, this car came with optional metallic paint, alloy wheels, a clock, a defroster, and tinted glass. Somewhere along the way more modern radio has been installed. We are not told if the car runs and drives. For a $15,000 asking price, we would hope that is the case.
Is $15,000 too much? Maybe. That is a lot of money, but there are estimated to be around 1,500 of these cars still on the road in North America. If you want a great example, this may be the car for you. Restoring a lesser car may run more than the $15,000 asking price for this one. Have you ever owned an X1/9? What was the experience like? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
I’ve owned three X1/9s. A 76, 77 and a 1980. I’m 6’2″ and fit with no problem, although it was a better fit with the Targa top off. Loved these cars, best handling car I ‘ve ever owned. With proper maintenace these cars will return with many miles. Price seems to be on line with the low miles and condition.
9,000 miles? Climate controlled garage? aka, repair shop? Repair shops are climate controlled,no?, I know, mama slaps me across the head, wasamatteryou, no lika the Fiat? Probably several slurs in that statement, but I thought the X1/9 was the coolest Fiat. Almost bought a Fiero, TWICE, good thing those deals fell through. The X1/9 was NOT one ninth of a car, it had to do with Fiats vehicle designation, X was for cars, and 1 out 9 cars available, I think. Anyway, while 160K might have been made, I was surprised to read, 2/3 of those came to America. Not many in Beer City, for sure. Some say it takes a brave person to drive a British sports car, and even BRAVER person to drive an Italian one. Just sayin’,,
Fiat’s internal development project codes at the time were X1/[number], which in this case was retained as the actual model name when it entered production.
The mechanically-related Lancia Montecarlo (Scorpion in the US) started out as project X1/8, which later became X1/20 when they reoriented the project to use the Lancia Beta’s FWD powertrain in the rear and market it as a Lancia, rather than the longitudinal V6 originally planned.
The Fiat-Bertone X19 was designed within the strict USA safety rules for front, rear and upside down accidents as per 1971-72. The safety rules were so severe that the USA motor industry demanded & succeeded in eliminating them before they were applied. Unfortunately for Fiat and Volvo they had already started producing the X1/9 and the (no sure the name) respectively. The X1/9 was the safest car at the time, together with this Volvo & especially with the later American bumbers you were really in a tank. I have from early 1981 till now personal experience of it causing damage in other cars (usually others fault) without suffering any. Part of it was also the fact that Fiat provided it with the heaviest metal body parts ‘C’ Italian category. The ‘A’ was for the cheap Italian cars, ‘B’ for middle class cars and ‘C’ for expensive, think Ferrari, Labo, top end Lancias etc. Once a front fender repair was needed and the old mechanic told me that only with a special technic it could be really repaired (red hot then hammer, again red hot/hammer at least three times) and only very few were willing to do this.
I have owned a number of sports cars in my day, including a ’74 1/9…back in that period, the feds began to get their grimy mits all over the auto industry. The open (convertible) cars were hard hit and virtually disappeared for a while due to excessive regulation regarding “roll=over standards” and resulting in what would come to be known as the “targa”- style roof coined by Porsche back in 1968 on it’s 911 series cars…long story short…the Fiat X1/9 was the only car besides Porsche to meet the ’72 standard, but…it resulted in a tiny car that weighed in around 2500 lbs!…couple that with an already anemic 1300 federalized engine and, well, that was the X1/9…it looked great, handled well, but quick…not so much.
Mine, i still have the owners manual, states 920 kg. Add 50 kg for fuel, 20 for cooling, 20 for brake & windshield fluid & it’s about 1,000 kg or 2000 lbs fully loaded.
Looks like a gem of an X1/9 that deserves better photography.
Only one full shot of the car. Check.
At least two blurry photos. Check.
Extreme close ups of random parts. An impressive 14 of them! Check.
I owned a new 1976 X-1/9, it was a street legal go-kart and a blast to drive.
Not that fast between gears put the top end speed was okay. I caught air, all 4 wheels left the ground at the crest of a hill driving 100 MPH, fortunately managed to maintain control. The road was hilly so that helped getting up to 100 MPH at the top of the next hill.
I might call $15k “slightly ambitious”, but not out of line. A starting point for negotiations. $12-13k seems perfectly reasonable for an X1/9 enthusiast who wants a dang near perfect car that will require a bit of service and parts to be a 100% car.
A 86 in very good condition sold not long ago on BaT for $26K. The pricing on this car is very good. These cars have been appreciating strongly over the last few years. Only 1024 of them reginsted in the US. It is a very rare car these days.
I had a good college friend who bought one of these new the summer after our freshman year. You had better do your shopping for clothes in the kids department if you want to fit in one of these. Seriously, they needed to have a you must be this tall to buy this car sign. Not to pigeon hole anyone from buying one of these, but not too many many dudes would be seen driving this car. At the time Fiat was not known for building quality vehicles, and now they own Mopar.He didn’t keep it long and his parents bought him something else. I am 6’3″, and I looked like a Shriner in it. I burst out laughing when he pulled into my driveway, it was priceless.
It’s all about proportions. My dad was 6’4” in socks and fit into an early one. I’m 6’ even and easily fit into early and later cars
In other words. You’re saying he’s too fat to fit into one?
These were ubiquitous in the 70s and well into the 80s. They rusted quickly and were inexpensive and this somewhat disposable. But when they were around, they were considered cool cars, and the car magazines loved them. They still look modern today, and that design had to be on the drawing board as early as the late 60s.
I never owned one, but I knew a guy back in 1975 who had one. We took a road trip from SoCal to Sacramento, and split the driving. I remember it would cruise nice all the way up to 85 mph or so, and handled like a slot car. I would have liked to have had one to fool around with.
One car that’s been on my bucket list for a long time. First ride in and drove one in the late 70’s, but never owned one. A little on the slow side in stock form but they can be made into real screamers. Italian cars get a bad rap for reliability, they do require more maintenance than a Chevy Nova, but every car has issues, a brother in law bought a new Corvette once, it was in the shop more than his driveway, he sold it at a loss after 7 months. The price is fairly in line, I’m 65 with bad arthritis and bad discs in my neck otherwise who knows, one heck of an autocross car, there was one in our club that would clean up.
I “inherited” a chocolate brown 1981 when I married wife #1. I loved the thing- drove like a go-cart. Most fun car I’ve ever had. Traded it at around 80k miles because it didn’t have AC (in Florida NOT a good thing; she’d moved from upstate NY with the car). It had one replacement wheel bearing, tires and oil changes- and NO rust (for a Syracuse car that says a lot) in all that time. I’d love to have another one. With AC.
I think ’81 may be when they started galvanizing the bodies or possibly (accounts vary) just an electrophoretic coating process to improve adhesion and distribution of the primer coat, thereby greatly reducing their propensity to rust.
I bought a European spec 72 model in rota Spain while stationed there in the navy. Great little car that I loved getting sideways with it. Had it repainted in almost a b5 blue and got the interior reuhlpolstered in what I guess would be ostrich brown. When I left Spain I sold it for about what I paid for it. Only major repairs to it was replacing the clutch. It was a fun little car
Too bad Porsche didn’t come up with this design for the 914s. We regularly race against one of these and they can be made to be real fast to go along with the good suspension.
Wasn’t the first version of the MR-2 inspired by this?
As my mechanic used to say, they just copied the X1/9.
Copied? Nope. I’m guessing you never owned an MR-2.
Only “copied” in the broadest sense of putting an economy-car FWD powertrain in a rear-mid configuration tiny 2-seater.
To make it clear: My mechanic once he had an MR-2 on the elevator for repair. I was curious & asked him what is going on. He showed me certain things as we were looking the car from below and concluded. They copied the understructure and just dressed it with different pieces. He was a renowned talented mechanic & a racer. The Group Fiat avoided sending the X1/9 in Japan & far East countries exactly for the fear of being copied. That’s why there was never a new X1/9 there, only used private imports. It’s a credit for Toyota that they waited after Bertone ceased production to put out the MR-2 in 1990.
I live in Massachusetts. I’ve never seen one of these in the road, just sitting rusting in side yards or junkyards. I think the rust is why we don’t see more on the road.
So I’ll make this a short comment…..I ordered one of these brand new…..I kept it maybe 2000 miles……it was a total p.o.s…….sorry, but I speak the truth…..
Had one in this color combo an absolute blast to drive great on long trips Emerson Fittipaldi owns 3! Said it’s the closest thing you can get to a formula one car but I think he was referring to the one with the Alpha C10 Rallye engine a direct bolt in!
Owned an ’83 for over a decade. Mechanically very good and reliable. Interior was kind of worn….OK, it was shot!. Electrical system was a bit fragile and overworked, but if you do various mods as outlined on the XANA website (great community for X’s), you’ll do OK. It was my 6’3 son’s daily driver for several years, all seasons here in Denver. Replaced the Bosch ignition module (not the common one you see in VW’s) with a much better generic $17 GM unit. Wish I had gotten around to freshening up the suspension before he sold it off, under pressure from his wife. Oh well. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it in traffic…..tugs at my heartstrings.
Ok, Italian car fanatic here, admittedly.
But I’ve owned German, Swedish, and Japanese; and I’ve had Ferraris in addition to Miatas, MR2 Turbo, and tons of X1/9s.
The X1/9 is STILL the most fun, best cheap sports car ever built. Literally a Ferrari in a small package.
It needs more power and modern tires, but I’ve never driven anything else as satisfying to drive.
Ever.
I’ve owned 2 of these little gems. I still have a 1979 that I drive often and it has won a few trophies at local cars shows. It took a little work to get the car sorted out and it is now a very happy car. I had lots of good help from friends and family. My car is an original California car so rust is not an issue. This car is not a rocket ship but I can merge onto a California freeway without breaking a sweat. “Besides, it is not how fast you go, but how good you look going fast”.The car is comfortable, good looking, handles superbly, and is one of the best buys on the sports car market. Great driving fun!
Always more fun to drive a slow car fast than to drive a fast car slow.
In the EU usually soon after buying the car you provided it with 2 double Webers, two or 4 pipes racing exhaust, some compression increase & a camshaft. Good for 120hp. It was sold in Ferrari & not in Fiat dealerships as the baby Ferrari. This was the main reason that Fiat Bertone avoided the upgrade it to a 2 liter engine fearing loss of customers from Ferrari (the 3 liter 308 at the time, 2 liter 208 later on)
I owned a 82 Fiat 2000 for 31 years! Loved that car. Sold it to an Italian collector in Australia after I restored it. Been jonesin to get back to a Fiat. I’m going to contact the seller. We’ll see!?
Race discriminatory remarks at 5:03 a.m.
lotta great cars (I middle class guy could buy) outta Italy in late 70s early 80s (some named above). Heck: 50’s thru mid 80s.
Always at a premium, and worth that to me. Plenty to drive, plenty to tinker a Saturday away. Great styles, wonderful drive train’n suspensions. My buds lumbered away w/the (fox bodied) big fords’n GMs (even X, T & F bodies) the mid-size seeming over sized gas hog straight liners. Just as the world copied the coke bottle Taurus from mid 80s – late teens I think the bellisimo straight lines & sharp angles of the 80s came from these guys 1st (and much earlier).
I was similar, my buds were big motor American cars ’68 GTO, ’72 GTO, Cutlass, Camaro, etc. Me, Capris V6 and 2.0, MG Midget racer, 2.0 Alfa Alfetta that turned into an Euro spec Alfetta GTV, God I miss that car, always wanted an X1/9 never found one that hadn’t been thrashed and trashed. This one I’d love, a few engine mods to enhance the speed but leave it stock otherwise. My 65 year old arthritic body wouldn’t tolerate it though.
I owned 3 of these over a 25 year period… ’80, ’84 and ’86… the latter two were marketed as “Bertones” as Fiat had pulled out of the US in ’82… Fantastic cars… super fun. Closest thing to a road going go-cart your going to get. One of the amazing things about these cars is how much you can fit in one… Front trunk is quite large… and you can stuff a bunch in the rear one as well (as long as you didn’t mind things getting a little warm)… This is something Pontiac couldn’t match with their Fiero or Toyota with their MR2…
Good point! Toyota was cost conscious & was criticized at the time for omitting the rear trunk as per the X1/9.
A 86 in very good condition sold not long ago on BaT for $26K. The pricing on this car is very good. These cars have been appreciating strongly over the last few years. Only 1024 of them reginsted in the US. It is a very rare car these days.
Slurs in many of your statements…