Today's shamelessly unresearched thread: Fiat X1/9

Lovely little cars. I drove one last year that belonged to a colleague - her grandad had bought it new, put 5000 miles on the clock and then left it in the garage. After a couple of decades he realised he probably wasn't going to use it again, so he just gave it to her! She brought it into work and let me take it round the block - it even smelt new. I think it lives in a museum now.

Not the easiest thing to drive if you're 6'2" though... knees around your ears.

Has a little look about the Lancia Stratos about it, not much but a little...

I was meant to have one of these as my first car, but mr insurance man put paid to that.. Harumph..

My friend's da just bought one. I'd love to get a run out in it, lovely wee cars.

They're great cars, the x1/9 was cutting edge when it was introduced with independent suspension all round, disk brakes front and back and an overhead camshaft engine. Of course they rust, but so does almost everything from back then, and they are hand-made. New body-panels are hard to find and afford. Electrics are curse word but with some easy fixes they shouldn't bother you.
Engine is basically the same as in the Fiat Uno and Ritmo, gearboxes are weak, other parts are cheap.

If you have questions, ask me, here are some pics of mine:














and more in this thread: retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=readersrides&action=display&thread=60739&page=1

Mino those pictures are amazing! Lovely example there!

I do like the look of these alot bet they're awsome little cars to drive!

This one



rocks. Looks spot on. I really like these, been keen follower of Mino's build, but just remember a mate having one that was all, and I do mean all rust! He stripped the shell clean and then gave up! Shame really, he drives a Mk 1 Fiesta now Can't remember the last time I saw one for sale?

My first car was a 1500 X1/9

It was ace...handled amazingly and had just enough power to be entertaining.....I loved it ( until it broke in two due to the floorpan rusting away!!! )

Id love another one!

A VS or Grande Finale would be a good classic to drive everyday

The brakes are a bit wooden, but they are fun on the twisties

When I worked for FIAT back in the day, there was an X1/9 specialist in Southall called Geoff Oliver, he frequently fitted 2.0 twincams to them as well as some of the body mods seen above