“Personality Issues”: 1979 Fiat X1/9

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Bertone designed dozens of more illustrious cars than the X1/9 – including the Lamborghini Countach, Alfa’s Giulietta Sprint, and the Lancia Stratos – but none more ubiquitous in the US than this little wedge-shaped Fiat. About 60% of production was sold here, out of a total of 160,000 made from 1972 through 1988 (from 1982 the cars were made by and named after Bertone). The X1/9 was derived from a concept car called the Autobianchi A112 Runabout. The Runabout was the physical representation of an argument put forth by Carozzeria Bertone and aimed at Fiat: Bertone wanted to convince Fiat that the mid-engine layout storming into the upper echelons of sports car design could work in a mass-market car. Once convinced, Fiat commissioned the new car, penned by Marcello Gandini. Its running gear was lifted from the 128, rearranged into a mid-engine layout. Bruce M spotted this 1979 Fiat X1/9 with some “personality issues” requiring attention – thanks, Bruce!

Shortly before the X1/9’s launch, Fiat had introduced a new 1290 cc SOHC four-cylinder for the 128 coupe. Aurelio Lampredi designed the engine, but before it was installed in the X1/9, the mill was upgraded with an aluminum head, aluminum oil pan, and twin-choke Weber. While these changes didn’t increase output, the little X1/9 was quicker-feeling and managed to achieve a top speed of 106 mph – a worthy increase over the coupe at 99. In 1979, when this example was made, the engine grew to 1498 ccs and gained Bosch fuel injection as well as a five-speed manual transaxle. The fuel injection changeover occurred gradually and was mostly found on 1980s cars in the US. Output ranged from 67 hp to 75 hp. Our seller does not provide engine photos, but the photo above shows the shallow dent afflicting the pillar. Bet that cord attached to the engine lid is there because the release latch doesn’t work. Maybe the cord doesn’t work either, thus the lack of engine views. On the other hand, the seller notes that the car is in good mechanical condition.

Fiat interiors are notoriously fragile. The seats are cheap vinyl; the dash is plastic. These materials crack easily in the sunlight concentrated into the cabin by that expansive windshield. All X1/9s are targa-top cars; seals can leak up there. Without driving the car you wouldn’t realize that the plastic shield over the gauges, and their reverse angle to the driver makes them nearly impossible to read in the sunlight. I have found it nearly impossible to rally mine for that reason, despite the car’s otherwise excellent rally-friendly attributes.

Other than the dent we saw above and a few interior issues, the front bumper is slightly askew. On the other hand, the paint is decent, and the trunk shows almost zero wear. This X1/9 is described here on craigslist for $7950, and it’s located in Palm Desert, California. While the seller is correct that nice examples can sell in the high teens, the repairs here will be expensive. Better to find a very fine example and pay a few more bucks.

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Comments

  1. Howard A. Howard A.Member

    I thought the X1/9 was the coolest Fiat, for the masses, that never took. The TR7, MR2, Fiero, all for a market that really didn’t exist. Not here, anyway. For years, seems Americans had some moral objection to mid-engined cars, maybe for some exotic foreign job, we wanted 454 Chevelles,,,and such.I don’t think any of the mid-engine 2 seaters sold very well. About 100,000 of the 160,000 X1/9s were sold in the US, practically none exist today. It just wasn’t something someone kept. Contrary to belief, it was not one ninth of a car, like we joked. Fiat used “X1” for passenger cars, and the X1/9 was the ninth passenger car made, or something like that. I’d have to say these were least popular of the mid-engine 2 seaters. Priced at around $3917, or about the same as a MGB, it was a poor seller.

    Like 5
    • Harry C.

      Years ago while traveling through the wilds of Texas in one of these the gas pedal broke. Specifically, a small tab on the pedal connecting the throttle wire broke off. With Fiat dealers scarce the repair option was a local garage which could weld the tab back into place. An issue though quickly appeared: the pedal was made of plastic!
      It is no wonder so few of these have survived.

      Like 6
    • SubGothius

      Fiat used “X1/etc.” codes for internal eXperimental development projects that might or might not reach production. The X1/9 was the only one that kept its project designation as the final production model name.

      There was also a project X1/8, which forked off into X1/20 when it changed mid-rear powertrain configurations from from a longitudinal V6 to a transverse inline-4. Project X1/20 eventually settled on using the Lancia Beta powertrain and thus reached production as the Lancia Montecarlo (aka Scorpion in the US market), while project X1/8 also continued in tandem evolving from the Fiat-Abarth SE 030 into the legendary Lancia Rally 037.

      Like 4
      • SubGothius

        BTW, Fiat also had project designations “X0/etc.” for powertrains, and “X2/etc.” for commercial vehicles.

        Like 2
    • JMB#7

      I’m not sure how the TR7 slipped in with the mid-engine cars? It was front engine and rear drive. Maybe it initiated “the shape of things to come”. Which sort of came & went.

      Like 1
    • Joe Elliott

      I’ll assume that when you said “TR7” you meant “914?”

      And while you “could say” the X1/9 was the least popular of the mid-engine two-seaters, saying such a thing would be at odds with the historical record; Toyota built roughly 155,000 of the original MR-2.

      Like 1
  2. Aussie Dave Aussie DaveMember

    Always loved the look of the X1/9. I’ve never driven one, but years ago a mate had a 128S, and it went like Stink (pardon the S pun). So the same engine in the X1/9, should be quicker.
    Michelle, you do know what Fiat stands for?

    Fix It Again Tony.

    But I’m curious behind the name X1/9?????

    Like 3
  3. Car39

    Had one in the 70’s, it was the only car I know that when they say the carb in flooded, it’s with coolant, not fuel. Ours had a coolant controlled choke, and it was leaking coolant into the carb. And yes, the guy who fixed it was an Italian named Tony.

    Like 7
  4. Rocco Russo

    Had a friend in HS who had a white one, I still remeber driving to see Heavy Metal in the theater in it. He had changed out the exhaust and used to autocross it, wanted one ever since, but 65-75 horse?

    Like 3
    • SubGothius

      65-75 hp may not sound like much, but the entire car only weighed about a ton, give or take 100 lb. or so depending on the model year.

      Like 0
    • Bub

      “It’s your one-way ticket to midnight. Call it heavy metal.”

      Like 1
  5. Joe Margiottiello

    Had a close girlfriend (friend) in my late teens and she had a red one. She used let me drive it all the time. The car was brand new . I used get ALOT of looks driving it around. Looked like a lot more then it was back then and I had a blast driving it around although it lacked a lot of power.

    Like 2
  6. Big C

    Those X/19’s were good looking cars, evidently made of fragile materials, that FIAT obviously knew wouldn’t hold up in the USA, if driven daily. Sort of like a Ferrari. But unfortunately, buyers of X/19’s, didn’t have Ferrari money, or an expert on speed dial. I knew a guy in college that had one. It ran well, every other month.

    Like 4
    • SubGothius

      Propensity for rusting aside, X1/9 bodies were actually pretty stoutly engineered, developed to satisfy some pretty demanding US crash and rollover regulations that were widely expected across the industry but ultimately never got enacted.

      Like 3
      • Big C

        Stoutly Engineered. Two words that have never been associated with FIAT.

        Like 1
    • Joe Elliott

      Yikes. I guess the guy that drove one to my father’s workplace every day from new until at least the end of the century must have been commuting from a foreign country, if the materials wouldn’t hold up in the USA if driven daily.

      Like 0
  7. PairsNPaint PairsNPaintMember

    75 hp works fine in such a light car, but if you needed more you went to Al Cosentino for the good Abarth stuff. I had a ’74 (which I would argue was the best looking with the small bumpers) that was as reliable as anyone with experience with Italian cars should expect. Americans who only knew Chevys and Plymouths that would run forever with no maintenance could never appreciate these cars for what they were. Only bad thing I can say about mine was that if I went out to the garage on a quiet night, I could hear it rusting.

    Like 5
    • JGD

      Ah yes, Al Consentino. During the 1970’s and 80’s I owned a Fiat 128 and a Lancia Beta Berlina. Al’s FAZA catalog was my automotive bible. His catalog’s almost incomprehensible layout made for difficult but, interesting reading. His prices for Abarth parts were affordable. Thanks to Al and non-OEM Webers, I de-smogged the cars, improved performance and still passed the State emissions inspection.

      Fortunately, despite long term high mileage use there were no tin worm issues. I sold the 128 to a friend whose sister drove it for a few years before buying a new car. The Lancia went to a collector in 1994. Both cars were reliable and affordable to maintain. Just remember to change the timing belt every 17.5K miles as the Fiat’s SOHC and the Lancia’s DOHC are interference engines.

      Like 2
  8. AzzuraMember

    From Wikipedia: “Unlike Fiat’s marketing nomenclature at the time which used a numerical system (e.g., 127, 128, 124, 131) denoting relative position in the model range, the X1/9 retained its prototype code as its marketing name. Fiat’s prototype coding used X0 for engines, X1 for passenger vehicles and X2 for commercial vehicles.[Note 1] The X1/9 was thus the ninth passenger car developed using the nomenclature.”

    Like 5
    • Joe Elliott

      Ugh. Who wants to correct Wikipedia?

      (Those three-digit model names had nothing to do with model hierarchy, but were roughly chronological, as they were the actual internal engineering project numbers. I don’t know what the X1/9’s was, after it moved on from concept stage and before re-adopting the X name for marketing, but I bet an early one’s VIN placard will tell you.)

      Like 0
  9. AzzuraMember

    I’ve owned 4 X1/9’s and currently have a Pininfarina Azzurra. Granted the X1/9 had very little horsepower, but it made the most of it. Weighing in at about 2000 lbs, the Fiat was a point and shoot car. With seating very low to the ground, the go cart experience was high. Most fun I have ever had was autocrossing my X1/9. This looks like a good example although I prefer the early ladder style bumper models simply because the bumpers are easily removed thus reducing the weight even more. I’m 6’2″ and fit in them, snugly yes, but that was a great aid in screaming around corners. If you’ve never driven one of these, don’t knock ’em. Great fun to cost ratio and maintenace is fairly easy for the DIY’er. Pop the targa top into the front truck, buckle up and hang on. I need to look hard at this one as the price is also very appealing.

    Like 6
  10. Acton Thomas

    I had an ’81 that sadly was rear-ended and totaled, so then I bought a ’79. I swapped all the good parts from the ’81 into the ’79. I still have the ’79 and drive it 7-8 times a month, it really is a fun ride and a happy little car. After I sorted out little personality issues, “Natalie” turned out to be very reliable. Driving this little X1/9 on the mountain roads in Southern California never fails to put a smile on my face, and I return home with a clear mind, what a tonic!
    The car in the story looks very clean, good paint, the interior needs love but it is usable, CD-30 wheels are a great choice, no obvious rust, good glass. Apparently I’m not the only fan, because the car is sold.

    Like 3
  11. Bub

    Dent courtesy of a disgruntled owner.
    “Won’t start? How about a flying knee?”

    Like 0
  12. chrlsful

    “Won’t start? How about a flying knee?”
    how merican~

    Loved to rally it, pulled easily behind
    my wolwo wagon.

    Like 0
  13. douglas hunt

    I had one, silver with black interior, bought new in the mid eighties ….it was fun, but I got a good offer for it, so moved on to a Scirocco

    Like 1
  14. Robert Atkinson, Jr.

    My very attractive high school Freshman Science teacher had one, before she traded it in a year later for a Mustang II Ghia. She went from “Fix It Again, Tony!” to “Found On Road Dead”, or “Fix Or Repair Daily”, LOL! I was partial to “First On Race Day” for Fords, myself. Almost none of these exist in the snow belt anymore, as the dreaded “tin worm” ate most of them to almost nothing before they were stripped for parts and sent to the crusher, only to recycled as Toyotas, LOL!

    Like 0
  15. rustylink

    looks like the optional rope pull cord for the engine lid release is still in place. That should tell you everything you need to know about the fragility of these cars.

    Like 0
  16. MarkO

    If you own one of these , make sure the TIMING BELT has been replaced! When the belt snaps, there isn’t a warning that it will happen… it will most certainly occur at least 100 miles from anyone that can work on it.
    This is an INTERFERENCE ENGINE : when the timing belt snaps, the engine will do it’s best to self destruct! The valves will hit the pistons and all hell will break loose. I made the mistake of having mine taken to a local “Foreign car specialist” that hadn’t worked on an X19, except for doing oil changes. BIG MISTAKE! The car was never “right” after he worked on it. I still have one of the bent valves hanging over my workbench es an expensive reminder!
    I kept the car a few more years until the front shock tower rusted away :the shock broke loose and started hammering the frunklid from the inside.
    It shouldn’t have been a surprise: the entire floor of the frunk was MIA due to rust . My feet would get wet when driving in the rain, as the footwells were also victims of the tin worm. IT WAS CERTAINLY FUN WHILE IT LASTED!

    Like 0

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