OT: I've been asked to post a backgrounder on X1/9, Cliff's notes X production history Options

[Mac]

I've had a number of pms asking for some backgrounder info on the X1/9 so instead of replying individually to them all I figured it may be easeir to satisfy curiosities by just posting it here...

It is true the 914 was first to market although X1/9s were actually in development around the same time. The prototype X1/9 was a concept car called the Autobianchi Runabout which was designed by Marcello Gandini of Bertone and developed in the mid-to-late '60s. It was shown in 1968, and based on the reaction, Fiat made the decision to have Gandini/Bertone turn it into a production car (quite a bit different from the wild speedboat looking concept car though).

The first year X1/9s were sold was 1972 and that was in Italy only. Very very rare. 2nd year they sold in Italy as well as a couple of other nearby European countries. 3rd year was 1974 and this was the first year they sold them in the USA. Oddly the UK didn't get any until '76 but that's another story. In the US market '74 is generally the most coveted for the older cars in enthusiast circles because it has many unique bits that were changed in '75 on.

I myself have owned (among others) a '75 and '80 model. I prefer the '75 over '74s but I am in the minority there. The '74 has very cool 1/4 bumperettes Euro style that people like and also some powerplant differences (no cat, a freer flowing exhaust manifold etc) however the 74 had a 3 piece welded cross member at the rear of the engine bay which is notorious for weakening at the seams, '75 and on had a solid one piece member, but also uglier US spec 'dual rail' bumpers. I think bumpers are minor in the final analysis because most folks just strip them off and go bumperless anyway!

So, where are we? Ah 74 was the first US model year. From '74 to '78 the cars were a 1300cc 4 banger sohc with a 4 speed manual trans, single weber dd carb, points ignition. In 1979 they went to a 1500cc engine with 5speed manual but the car was still carbed and in fact the 79 only (and technically first half of 80) had the smallest carb of any year and also a lot of 'transitional' unique parts because about halfway through 1980 they went to the same 1500cc with 5 speed but then ditched carb and went to BOSCH Fuel Injection and electronic ignition. My '80 is one of the very first FI Xs.

The history gets a little weird now. Fiat made the 1500 FI Xs until about late '82 early '83 then decided they were pulling the plug on the X (and pulling the plug on the US market altogether, never to return). Bertone, the design house and actually the manufacturer of the chassis, did not want the X to die, so made a deal to get the engines from Fiat and take over full production of the car themselves.

While Bertone started their own distribution arrangements for the X in other markets, They then made a deal with a crazy entrepreneur you may have heard of (His own gullwing sports car made in Canada and importing Subaru in the 70s, then Yugo in the late '80s, and most recently Chinese cars) by the name of Malcolm Bricklin!

Malcolm Bricklin started importing the X as well as the Fiat Spider to the US around '83. The cars were no longer called Fiats. They were badged Pininfarina for the Spider and Bertone for the X. So from '83/'84 on the car is called the Bertone X1/9, wears only Bertone badges etc. An interesting historical footnote is that, of all the cars Bertone has had a hand in over their history, the X1/9 is the only car that has ever been marketed as a "Bertone" badged product directly. They spruced it up with leather interior, power windows, some more creature comforts, a/c, courtesy lights in the doors etc, and most notably a fancy selection of 2-tone paint jobs.

The Bertone Xs sold in the US from '83ish (although very few really are around til about the '85 models) on to about '87. Fiat had so demolished their own rep in the US previously that the cars were a harder sell at any rate, plus Bricklin's network of Bertone dealers had their own plethora of support problems.

Then there was a matter of very similarly styled copycat competitors now literally flooding the market, such as the Pontiac Fiero (being marketed on tv ads parked beside an X1/9 with the slogan "Buy American!" - how blatant can you get?) and the Toyota MR2 (at least not directly compared in ads but obviously aimed at the X with the slogan "Japanese Reliability"), cars with MASSIVE production volumes and better dealer support than the X, which had been on the US market with more or less the same original design for 13 years!

The sum total of all this was that by then the dealers could hardly give them away, and started folding left and right. There was a huge glut of unsold Xs and Bricklins import house crumbled. The last official year in the US market was '87 although there are some early '88s that have been found in the States. Some of the later Bertone cars came with a 'Corsa' factory body kit (air dams, spoilers, ground effects) that although it can look somewhat dated now is still coveted by many for its relative rarity.

After the US market died the X continued to soldier on in other countries. For example in the UK and most of Europe they continued on through '89 before the whole thing was brought to a close. Some of the latest model UK cars were called "Gran Finale" models and are sought after, as well as some of the unsellable US spec models were backflushed into Europe for liquidation and called there the "Sunshine" models. They are sought after there because in those markets they never got the FI system that we had in '80, so they are the only Xs that were sold in those markets with FI instead of carb.

That's the short version. I could go on for hours if we wanted to break down year by year and market by market differences. For example Australia got some weird ones around the 1300 to 1500 transition times (1500 bodies with 1300s in them) but I'll save that for another day.

I'll be happy to answer any other X questions as best I can

Peace, -Mac