This was the short that prompted me to write Craig F about the errors and mis-information. We ended up discussing this via email.
My points to Craig were:
FIAT/bertone x1/9
Model years: 1974-1990
Cost then: $3,917-$13,990
Cost today: $2,000-$12,000
Dart-shaped mid-engine sports cars were all the rage in the 1970s, and Fiat was among the breed's pioneers, with a difference: No high-strung V-12 exotic here, the X1/9 was an economy-minded wedgy middie for the people.
*No mention that this was the car designed by Bertone after the Lambo Miura with a number of the same designers at Bertone and they used what they learned from designing the transverse mid engine Miura on the X1/9.
This twin-trunked, steel bodied (with integral roll bar) sports car with a removable fiberglass targa top was as modern as the minute, and would last, with minor freshening, for more than 15 years.
*No mention of the proposed US federal mandates for crash safety which drove the design of the X1/9 and resulted in a rather heavy chassis for it's size.
The 1974 X1/9 was powered by a transverse 1,290cc four-cylinder with a Solex two-barrel carburetor that made 66.5hp and was mated exclusively to a four-speed manual.
*Anyone noted a stock Solex carb on a X1/9? Every one I ever saw n real life and every FIAT factor document I know of notes a Weber carb.
If you think that hp number is puny for a sports car, consider that it weighed a mere 1,933 pounds. The delicate original bumpers were replaced with larger, sturdier units, as per federal regulations for 1975.
*Delicate bumpers? Mere 1,933 pounds for a car this size? They should compared this with similar sized car of the day.
"Big bore" X1/9s arrived in 1979, powered by 67hp, 1,498cc four-cylinders and shifted by new five-speed manual gearboxes, and a switch to electronic fuel injection brought 75hp in 1981.
*Bosch EFI started in CA, in the 1980's and became the norm.
Despite the popularity of their sports cars, Fiat withdrew from the U.S. after 1983. Carrozzeria Bertone, the car's assembler, kept the flame alive by badging them as Bertone X1/9s,
*Why did they not mention the X1/9 being a Bertone creation rather than a "FIAT" creation? What Hemmings should have stated is the X1/9 is one of the few mass produced Italian Carrozzeria cars sold in the US and other car markets in the world.
*They also did not mention that the x1/9 was an important source of income for Bertone and was their sole source of consistent product income. Bertone took x1/9 production quite seriously. Even when FIAT basically abandoned them to go it alone with the x1/9.
and Malcolm Bricklin imported them from 1984 through 1990. Despite these late cars being nicely trimmed with AM/FM stereo cassettes, air conditioning and power windows,
*Bricklin did more harm to the X1/9 than good. IMO, Bricklin tried to make the x1/9 into a car it never was or could be. Having owned a number of later Bricklin-ized x1/9s, I don't like them as much as the pre-Bricklin cars.
they still combined 26 mpg city/37 mpg highway economy with go-kart handling.
Rust is the X1/9's number one enemy,
*How many times has this been discussed and myth dispelled? They continue to perpetuate the rusty FIAT myth, when fact is all cars from that era had similar rust problems. No mention of how corrosion protection changed and improved over the production life of the x1/9.
*They should look at their own Brit car fleet to see how rusty Brit cars can get.
Have a look at this TR6, relative rust free on the outside, but the frame is a total rust heap. Many of the frame/body Brit cars rust from the inside out due to the way their frame rails were made and
"rust proofed".
http://www.longislandtriumph.org/TR6+6.pdf
but mechanicals are inexpensive, so good examples are cheap to run.
The published price of 12K for an prime X is very optimistic. When was the last time anyone saw an X sell for any where near that much on ebay? When a car magazine publishes a "market value" for any car makes is reality? The majority of X1/9s sell for around 2-3K and very, very prime ones sell for about 5-6K. While similar Brit roadsters hold greater, more constant market value.
This is just another example of Brit centric US car media publishing stuff about a car they know little about.
Even the article Hemmings published later was only somewhat better. It seems no matter what is published about the x1/9, it has little effect on the cars market value? Many car folks have already made up their minds about FIAT and the x1/9 and it's not going to change anytime soon.
JimW had mentioned this a looong time ago, but I noticed the article was now on line:
http://www.hemmings.com/hsx/stories/2009/01/01/hmn_feature1.html
I tried to reply to JimW's thread, but it was locked.
