Pre-manufactured 1972 X1/9 on auction in Sweden

Bjorn Nilson

True Classic
A pre-manufactured X1/9 was recently on an auction in Sweden. I never heard of a such early X1/9 before. If correct they were made during 1972 and shipped to European resellers as show cars. If someone knows more, please add information.
I don't think it was sold as the highest bid was just 3000 SEK (300 USD). S/N: 224 of 500 made. If someone is interested in buying it, I can probably help with an export.
 
Pretty cool. ;) But it would be MUCH cooler if it was a complete car.

I wonder what sort of ID or VIN that is (#224)? I mean in terms of verifying the actual history of the car. And if the engine/trans units had similar ID numbers of any kind? Some sort of way to verify everything is indeed a pre-production vehicle, and therefore the true value.
 
Yes, 1972 cars supposedly were only sold in Italy in a small number.
224 is quite low. A buddy of mine owned 3xx but it was too rusted save.
 
A pre-manufactured X1/9 was recently on an auction in Sweden. I never heard of a such early X1/9 before. If correct they were made during 1972 and shipped to European resellers as show cars. If someone knows more, please add information.
I don't think it was sold as the highest bid was just 3000 SEK (300 USD). S/N: 224 of 500 made. If someone is interested in buying it, I can probably help with an export.

Just wondering how many other barns in Sweden have both a pre-production X1/9 basket case AND a 1979 Cadillac El Dorado? :cool:
 
Just wondering how many other barns in Sweden have both a pre-production X1/9 basket case AND a 1979 Cadillac El Dorado?
You might be surprised. The Swedes seem to LOVE big American cars. Especially old Caddys. The largest classic American car show in the world is in Sweden (Called something like "power fest" I think). And in my opinion the nicest custom built classic American cars have come from there as well, at least as evidenced by what turns up at the SEMA Show.
 
Very true. Many Swedes went to US during the 80's and 90's to buy old American cars. We gave the cars lots of love and restored them, sometimes to unbelievable condition. Now we are selling them back to US again as the interest cooled off a little bit. -Big Yankee cars have become too common on classic car gatherings in Sweden, so if you are looking for a specific American classic car in excellent condition to a reasonable price you would probably find it here.
The biggest American car meet here is called "Power Meet", not to be mixed up with "Fan Fest" (fest=party in Swedish) which is a meet dedicated for air cooled VW's only.
 
S/N: 224 of 500 made.
Not necessarily pertaining to this example, but I wonder if there can be any confusion between the 500 "pre-production" cars vs the first 500 actual production units? Did the "pre-production" ones have any other identifying numbers, similar to the "VIN" numbers used on the first production units? Or was the three digits the only numbers stamped on those cars?
 
I think I was wrong. It was 250 pre-prod cars made. It seems like the #224 car is still available and I will dig deeper into it. The problem is that it is in parts, and what I've seen from photos it's a mess so there's a big risk that some parts are missing. My -84 is complete (at least this phase) and I am looking for a new project. I would like to restore a 850 Spider but they are hard to find. The -72 would be fun to restore back to 100% original shape as an alternative but it would take a long time and will brobably also be costly. I am about to retire so time is at least not a problem.
 
My problem is there are too many vehicles that I'd like to build some day. And it's likely I'll never get around to finishing all of the ones I'm already doing. So even with retirement there isn't enough time. Furthermore as my work pace gets slower, time goes by faster. I always thought doing a totally original restoration might be fun, but honestly there aren't any totally stock vehicles that I'd want to keep original. I guess I'm too much of a 'hacker'. o_O Even my earliest memories about cars as a very young boy was me thinking how I wished they had made it different "here and there". Something more like the concept cars vs the final production models.
 
Back
Top