It's in Santa Rosa, CA... just saw it..

no idea of condition; Photos show decent body exterior...

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/zip/d/sant...7278961729.html
Click to view attachment


Click to view attachment

Stop it! I still have a fondness for X1/9s after owning a rust-free (really!) '76 back in the 80s.

Well, X1/9s are coming into their own. Definitely worth saving. They probably are about where the 914 was 10 years ago. The first one I bought back in 1982 was a '77 model in silver. Here's my current one.




Click to view attachment


Click to view attachment

Even further OT !

I'm got a big Fiat 600 problem.
I want one bad. Like 903cc and 850 trans bad...with Abarth parts ....
and Italian alloys too.
It's waiting

From the land of terribly bad things to do to cars....

Find a Mazda RX7 13b engine and bridge port it. Hook it to the Mazda 626 front wheel drive transmission, and put it in the X1/9.

At the end of 2019, I tried to buy a lime green highly original (excepting the "period" pin stripes ) very rust-free (for an X1/9) 1974 -running, driving, "fully serviced", rare small bumpers and smog exempt in draconian Kali. The owner had some health issues (which apparently affected his memory) which caused him to drop out for a week or 2 at a time. I told him I wanted the car and was ready to pay full price ($6,000) as soon as he was able to execute the deal (he was located in Las Vegas, NV). At that point, he dropped out for another few weeks, and when I finally got through again, he said, "I'm sorry, I forgot - I just sold it to a dealer who (within a few days) just sold it to some tv show with 2 guys."



Recently I saw it on one of the last "Wheeler Dealer" California-based episodes . . .grrrr

I'd love to drive one. Research showed that it was one of only 2 cars that passed new American standards for crash testing in 1974 (oddly, no American cars passed ) . . .the other was a Volvo.

I also remember reading about the crash test. Perhaps a bit overbuilt, they weighed more than a 914 despite being smaller.

Here's mine at a SCCA Pro Solo, after the car had evolved into a serious autocross player.

Click to view attachment

My first car was a 77 X1/9...I loved that car. So...just adding fuel to the OT fire.... this one looks like a respectable project at nice entry price.

https://tucson.craigslist.org/cto/d/tucson-...7268197293.html

interesting story, i just watched that episode, appartently Ant HATES the X-19 , weird because he usually takes to stuff tlike that so may be it was all for show.

i remember in 1979/1980 i was shopping for my first car and looked at one, my dad says no way, but i end up with a '69 AH Sprite and a '71 duster for the winter LOL!!!
Dad loved the aircooled stuff, go figure, he had a '63 Karmann Ghia, and for the family both a fast back and square aback, before going VW water cooled with a series of Rabbits, i almost took the '71 super beetle that he got rid of, but alas i remember that x-19 well, but really loved that Sprite!!

These are really good cars once sorted - love my '74 (with a 1500 & 5 speed).

A college friend had an X1/9 (since "graduated" to Ferraris). I was between 914s but he knew I was a fan. So each time another associate of his challenged him to race that guy's recently modified 914, he beat him every time.

The 914 guy was removing fi and adding carbs, bumping performance with headers, cams, etc.. but the X1/9 with it's utilitarian but post 1930's architecture in the engine room had no problem with the RPMs... it was funny to hear this almost monthly blow by blow... The stock X1/9 is too Italian in looks for my tastes (ironically I'm half Italian), but the rally car versions look pretty cool.

My first car was a 77 x 1/9 in the same color as @vegasracer . Would love to find one just like that... despite the fact that it broke down on the way to my high school prom and I fixed it on the side of the hutchinson river parkway in my tuxedo.

Ian, I'll make you a deal - I'll swap my '87 X1/9 for your '74 914. They're the same color, so I doubt your wife will even notice!

Would love to see a thread detailing the differences/similarities (especially handling/fun factors), reliability, autocross comparisons etc . by those who own or have owned both . . .

So....was your date impressed with your "skillz" Ian?

X 19s were the equal of 914s in california - in terms of being everywhere down here in aus back in the late 70s and into the 80s. hundreds of them.

all gone. have not seen one on the road for at least 10 years.
haven't even really seen any for sale for a long time either.

rust gets them - even in aus. a lot of cars tend to rust slowly down here, but anything italian rusted just from being looked at, even in a dry garage.

great cars to drive. i wheeled around in one for a short while on loan from a friend in the 80s. she ended up crashing it, chose a paddock on the side of a road rather than a head on with an idiot who had crossed a double white line to overtake someone.

there are still however a fair number of lancia monte-carlos surviving down here.
tightly held and kept on the road by enthusiasts.
i think the usa got a version of the monte-carlo but it was emasculated by pollution and bumper regs. we got the more or less pure italian version down here.
slightly larger than an X/19 but not much larger -- and more power.

In the US they were typically called the Lancia Scorpion. I had a Lancia Beta in High School. I loved that car.

- nice cars.

still see HPEs out and about here some sunday afternoons. stylish.
coupe a bit rarer in aus . few fulvias about too - along with some zagatos.

mate of mine has a 2000 sedan. looks like a priest's car?
fun to drive. boxer engine with fuel injection and a 5 speed box with a shift pattern same as the 914. nice motor.
what i remember about the X/19, engine loved to rev off its dial and you could get the oil light to come on it went around corners so hard.


Click to view attachment

John, your photo prompted me to dig through mine. This one is from around 1990. The only one I can find with my X1/9, and its replacement(s).

Mine were so different (stock/custom) my experience was tainted. YMMV
I owned my X1/9 for two trouble free years.
The Fiat feels more like a Convertible.
A 914 Targa Top is much easier to stow in the trunk.
Spare Tire ? ? Behind the drivers seat.
Italian elegant design vs. German engineering simplicity.
1980's vs. 1970's.

Click to view attachment

Deleted