The Fiat X1/9 was a mid-engine, 2-seat sports car designed by Bertone and built by Fiat in the 1970s and 1980s. The odd name was simply the internal project code for the vehicle within Fiat. About 160,000 copies of the little machine were produced in Europe, with maybe 100,000 exported to the U.S., their biggest market. We’re told this 1979 edition has not been modified, and it’s just shy of show quality. Located in Owen Sound, Ontario (Canada), this nice runabout is available here on eBay, where the opening bid of USD 11,000 has yet to be cast.
Production of the X1/9 was split between Fiat and Bertone, depending on the years (Fiat 1972 to 1982 and Bertone from 1982 to 1989). Because of the layout and weight distribution, the X1/9 was considered an excellent road-handling car by many. And passengers liked that there were storage areas in both the front and rear. By the time the seller’s car was built, the X1/9 came with a transversely mounted 1.5-liter engine that produced 61 hp (at least according to U.S. specs). And a 5-speed manual transmission was in charge instead of a 4-speed.
The seller provides a wide selection of really good photos of this lime green Fiat, yet provides practically no written details. For example, the mileage is 20,700, but is that an honest figure or could it be something else? And was this car sold new in Canada, or was it brought across the border from the U.S. at some point?
While the interior appears to be original and pretty darn nice, has the paint been redone (after all, the car is 46 years old)? I’d have no problem showing off this thing at Cars & Coffee rather than taking the seller’s approach of “easily able to take to the next level for the show field.”
Beautiful example of a fun car to drive. Bottom side is as good as the top which. means you get a car you don’t have to do anything to other than just drive it.
Agree w bobhess. But boy it looks cramped quarters in there. Best suited for a smaller frame 🍔 💁♂️
Way too much given the condition!
What condition?
Technically Bertone always built all X1/9 bodies at their own facility, with final assembly of complete cars at Fiat. The final assembly and marque badging simply changed to Bertone after ’82, when Fiat pulled out of the US market and canceled their contract with Bertone for X1/9 production.
Malcolm Bricklin saw enough residual demand for the X1/9 (and the Fiat Spider) in the US market that he spooled up his own importing company for them and contracted Bertone (and Pininfarina for the Spider) to continue body production just as they’d always done and assume final assembly in-house, along with misc. minor updates and improvements that Fiat had just never signed-off on paying for. Fortunately, Fiat was happy to continue supplying powertrains/etc. as long as they didn’t need to have any other involvement in the cars.
These were throw away cars from the get go. 21hrs to go and 0 bids. Yep.
These are great cars, and you’re just a negative Nelly.
Well, I owned a red one like this, same year. 8 months pregnant driving it home through the mountains of Idaho with my sister-in-law, in August. It was hot.Broke down, waited for a tow. A long wait.
20K would be considered a high mileage Fiat,,,relax, I think the X1/9 was one of the coolest cars. Like the Fiero or MR2, they had a slim market, Contrary to a Beer City kids way of thinking at the time, the X1/9 was not 1/9th of a car. X designated auto, and was the 9th offering, apparently. Fiats or most foreign cars just weren’t designed for the rigors of US driving.Our Chevy Impalas were probably just as useless to them as Fiats were to us. I’d be a bit hesitant to spend 5 figures on one, but it is a wonderful example of a car nobody kept. Naturally, parts are a concern, but like anything, there is an outfit, Midwest Bayless in Ohio that specializes in X1/9 stuff. Go figure, hey?
I owned one, lot of fun, had no real maintenance problems, and I didn’t throw it away. I sold it for what I bought it for, 5 years later. I am 5’10, and had no problem. My only issue was I wished it had a few more ponies, but I knew that when I bought it. Great for country drives.
Mark, small displacement engines of that era suffered disproportionately
from EGR emissions controls. A Road and Track editor’s famous quote was that exhaust gas recirculation in any species other than Amoebas would be considered a nasty perversion.
Too bad you didn’t have one of Al Consentino’s FAZA catalogues. Al crammed his (unbelievably disorganized) catalogues with a ton of Abarth and other Italian aftermarket FIAT and Lancia performance equipment for street and track. The Fiats that Al successfully raced in SCCA events produced obscene amounts of power for their displacement.
Using Al’s instructions, my Lancia Beta was successfully desmogged, fitted with a larger Weber carburetor and a free flow ANSA exhaust system which produced a noticeable improvement in performance without gulping gas. And, it still passed strict State emissions testing.
A friend on mine drove my 76 X/19 and absolutely loved it. He bought a new Fiero when they came out, expecting similar characteristics. Boy, was he disappointed!
This looks good, but I’d be inclined to go with an MR2 if I wanted a wee mid-engined car.
Back in the day there were a few of these set up for drag racing with air cooled VW drivetrains, they were pretty cool.
I used to drool over these as a kid wandering around the FIAT showroom with my dad waiting for service on his 131. That was frequently!
Of course we remember the acronym for FIAT…Fix It Again Tony!
anybody else wondering why the rockers are red? i’m guessing this was a before painting photo to show original, minimal rust, condition.
Pretty sure those are just the tire-track beams of a drive-up lift they used to inspect/photograph the underside.
And I don’t think this has been repainted, or at least not a color change. Engine bay photos show the same color throughout, and this metallic mint-green was a factory color for ’79 Fiats; my folks had a Brava wagon of that model year in the same color.
good call SubGothius. i had the definition of “expectation bias” when i looked at the picture lol
Would be fun for a road trip! You can stop at rest stops and have a picnic on the chrome “table” on front…
Aargh, those bumpers…
the speedometer is calibrated in km/h.
So…
1. the car was most likely sold in Canada, and
2. with only 20,700 showing on the odometer, it has likely gone around. which makes 120.700 km equaling about 67,000 miles. still low mileage
I dated a girl who had one of these. Very underwhelming…the car, not the girl.
“…under…”
just cuz there was no room inside for ‘action’
“…nobody kept…”
just like me (carcasum never come accross on-line) with mine:
6, 8 yrs @ SCCA ralleys…
Abarth was a good friend back then.
My high school Freshman science teacher had one in 1973, the next year she traded it in for a Mustang II Ghia!
Throughout the 1970s I was a Jag mechanic, the dealership also sold Fiat. A X1/9 came in wouldn’t rev over a thousand RPM and no one could figure out what was wrong I agreed to look at it. I looked it all over, when I tried to check the oil I was having trouble putting the dipstick back in because it kept hanging up on the lip. When I did get it in the oil came all the way up the dipstick, and then it hit me! I put it on the rack and started draining the oil, it filled up the first pan so I had to quickly put another pan in and after 15+ quarts of oil it was empty. I put fresh oil in, the appropriate amount, started it up, run it off the rack, it purred like a kitten, drove it around the block the customer was very happy and so I instructed him how to check the oil. Every every time the customer checked the oil it hung up on the lip of the dipstick so he thought it was one quart low so he put another quart in and that’s what caused the problem, he put so much oil in it the engine would barely run. That was 50 years ago, I’ll never forget that X1/9!
Great story, Russ!
To all who comment on the X1/9 not being reliable or disposable, most of whom have never owned one, my 1974 exe is still running strong. I bought a 84 Bertone also for the extra gear and a little more power. The 74 was 66 hp at sea level and I believe the 84 was 85 hp. It definitely has considerably more power. Rust was no worse than most cars of that era. My only preventative maintenance alerts to future owners was keep that cam timing belt fresh. It had a short lifespan and there was nothing in the owner’s manual that said when to change it. That cost was 6 bent valves. (79 and newer models are not interference engines) Once I learned the car has run flawlessly for 51 years. Side note; X1/9s have become berry popular in racing circuits with modern drivetrain transplants, the superb handling combined with more power makes them formidable competitors.
Beautiful looking car. It’s awesome to see an original survivor.
Call me crazy if you want to but I would look at putting the drivetrain from a smart for two in it, you gain 30 horsepower on 3 cylinders
ended
1979 Fiat X1/9
US $11,000.00
Sun, May 11, 04:23 PM
no bids
The seller has relisted this item
https://www.ebay.com/itm/286561465260
much lower opening bid
Bidding ended on Sun, May 11. no bids
The seller has relisted this item with a much lower opening bid
https://www.ebay.com/itm/286561465260
I had an old friend buy a yellow 1974 X-19. He drove up to Minneapolis to show it off one summer. We drove around the University of Minnesota campus and Dinkytown with the top off. I remember it having comfortable bucket seats.
A buddy bought a red and tan ‘74 brand new. Always turned heads. He added some aftermarket wheels that were tasteful and a bit wider and a smoked roof panel. We enjoyed some cruising in it as high schoolers at the time. I think he also added a different intake and/or some other bits to give it a bit more pep. It wasn’t fast but the mid engine made it fun. Like most Fiats however the build quality wasn’t good and I remember it being in the shop a lot, no surprise there.
Ended May 18, 2025
US $7,200.00
15 bids
Reserve not met
The seller has relisted this item
https://www.ebay.com/itm/286579486567