How many X1/9s are still on the road ??

Without further ado....drum roll please...

The # of X1/9s currently registered AND CURRENTLY PLATED...as of the fall of 2018 are:

For all of USA:

1974 71
1975 19
1976 18
1977 26
1978 39
1979 128
1980 68
1981 62
1982 87
1983 47
1984 53
1985 77
1986 193
1987 128
1988 17
1989 1

for a grand total of..........1034

Which means the winner...by a lot...is.....Cratecruncher


For all of Canada:

1974 7
1975 1
1976 1
1977 0
1978 1
1979 38
1980 2
1981 20
1982 26
1983 3
1984 1
1985 0
1986 5
1987 9
1988 1

For a grand total of........115

Which means the winner is....Daniel
 
rx1900 said:
Without further ado....drum roll please...

The # of X1/9s currently registered AND CURRENTLY PLATED...as of the fall of 2018 are:

For all of USA:

1974 71
1975 19
1976 18
1977 26
1978 39
1979 128
1980 68
1981 62
1982 87
1983 47
1984 53
1985 77
1986 193
1987 128
1988 17
1989 1

for a grand total of..........1034

Which means the winner...by a lot...is.....Cratecruncher


For all of Canada:

1974 7
1975 1
1976 1
1977 0
1978 1
1979 38
1980 2
1981 20
1982 26
1983 3
1984 1
1985 0
1986 5
1987 9
1988 1

For a grand total of........115

Which means the winner is....Daniel
Click to expand...
Thanks for doing this!
 
Even for Canada, Cratecruncher was closer than me with 100. So that makes him the overall winner.

Fastfiat81 wasn't that far for the US with 1250.
 
rx1900 said:
The # of X1/9s currently registered AND CURRENTLY PLATED...as of the fall of 2018 are:
Click to expand...
Thanks so much for doing this!! Really fun. Congrats to the winners!

I wonder whether the total has gone up or down since 2018. I'm guessing the rate of decline has slowed considerably over time and may even have reversed. You could add at least one 1981 to the mix since 2018, as mine wasn't registered then, but is now. To what extent is activity on this forum a proxy for #s on the road? People who've been members for awhile, has this forum gotten more or less active?
 
Yes, thanks for this. I have to say I'm surprised at the numbers, I imagined they would be much higher!
 
Doug, thanks for posting this! I already added the info to the X1/9 wikipedia.org entry.

I am intrigued by:

a. There are only 105 (adding USA & Canada) ladder bumper cars. There are probably fewer than that actually sporting ladder bumpers taking into account that backdating to USA '74 or Euro bumpers is seen as a desirable mod.

b. 1986 being the year with the most survivors, by a wide margin.

c. 1983 not being the year with the least survivors, as IIRC this was the changeover year with the fewest cars imported.
 
Some thoughts.....

Yes.....the numbers were way lower than most folks thought. And yes...I reckon the numbers today - two years on - are surely even lower. Yes...some will have returned to active duty...but more than likely there are now less than 1000 active X1/9s in the USA....and less than 100 in Canada.

And yes...the numbers are low...but are very much in line with the survival rate in the UK for example.

I guess the big question....and one that will be nigh onto impossible to answer...is how many other X1/9s are out there...sleeping/being restored/festering in garages and barns and fields. My best guess would be another 3000 or so in USA and Canada.

And do note the number of '83 and up Bertone models in Canada. Kinda surprising as X1/9s were NOT sold in Canada after 1982. So those 19 cars ( 17% of the total ) must have been imported from the USA privately....

But...the most surprising numbers are when compared to 124 Spiders........a car imported here in i believe very similar numbers to the X1/9...and from an even older time period. Incredibly.....there are about 7 times in the USA....and 10 times in Canada....as many 124s surviving as X1/9s !!!! And that is not even counting the Pininfarina models ( those I do not have numbers for ). Which has to say something........

Thanks for playing along. i'll be in touch with the winners re claiming their prize.

Doug
 
Most of the ones I see for sale are 20 years in a shed. I wouldn't be surprised to see the numbers of registered cars actually go up slightly in the next few years, though registers cars can still fall off the grid through rust, accidents, major mechanical, or just failure to drive and register.

Thanks for pulling the information, I do see more 74s and 79s for sale (seat of the pants, I haven't tracked numbers). The '86 thing is interesting, maybe at that point more were bought and immediately squirreled away like those last year 70s El Dorado convertibles and most Bricklins? Who knows?
 
rx1900 said:
Some thoughts.....

Yes.....the numbers were way lower than most folks thought. And yes...I reckon the numbers today - two years on - are surely even lower. Yes...some will have returned to active duty...but more than likely there are now less than 1000 active X1/9s in the USA....and less than 100 in Canada.

And yes...the numbers are low...but are very much in line with the survival rate in the UK for example.

I guess the big question....and one that will be nigh onto impossible to answer...is how many other X1/9s are out there...sleeping/being restored/festering in garages and barns and fields. My best guess would be another 3000 or so in USA and Canada.

And do note the number of '83 and up Bertone models in Canada. Kinda surprising as X1/9s were NOT sold in Canada after 1982. So those 19 cars ( 17% of the total ) must have been imported from the USA privately....

But...the most surprising numbers are when compared to 124 Spiders........a car imported here in i believe very similar numbers to the X1/9...and from an even older time period. Incredibly.....there are about 7 times in the USA....and 10 times in Canada....as many 124s surviving as X1/9s !!!! And that is not even counting the Pininfarina models ( those I do not have numbers for ). Which has to say something........

Thanks for playing along. i'll be in touch with the winners re claiming their prize.

Doug
Click to expand...

I would have expected some higher percentage of Spiders to survive as compared to X1/9s, since after all the Spider was the more expensive of the two when they were selling new (maybe by 20% +/- ?), and was the much easier of the two to own and live with. But 7-to-1 is a huge disparity worthy of some discussion and conjecture.

I can verify that the 7-to-1 Spider-to-Exxie ratio you mention is evident at our local activities with NJFIATs and the ex-FLU gang in the Phila and South & Central NJ areas.

To those who are intimate with both cars, is the Spider a better built car than the X? Is it 7 times better built?
 
StephenW said:
It is sad to see such low numbers. How did you find out the these numbers?
Click to expand...

Just read my 2 posts on the first page of this thread.......

Dan Sarandrea (Phila) said:
I am intrigued by:

a. There are only 105 (adding USA & Canada) ladder bumper cars. There are probably fewer than that actually sporting ladder bumpers taking into account that backdating to USA '74 or Euro bumpers is seen as a desirable mod.
Click to expand...

This did not surprise me one bit. I think it is safe to say those are perceived as the "ugly stepchild" of the X1/9 world, and are the least desired. Yes.....they were imported in large numbers...but most folks wanting an X1/9 to actually fix up and drive....would gravitate to the '74 or the 1500 models. And of course them being 10 years older would have naturally hastened their demise......

And...just by observing the posts on this forum...the '75-'78 models would indeed seem to be very much in the minority here. This I can also back up by my sales of year-dependent items i sell.

Dan Sarandrea (Phila) said:
I am intrigued by:

b. 1986 being the year with the most survivors, by a wide margin.
Click to expand...

Yeah....of course being newer than most X1/9s...that would be natural. And by then they were pretty pricey and thus perhaps owners tended to take better care of them ? I do not have the numbers of new sales in those Bertone years - paging Greg - but perhaps sales were also relatively high in that particular year ?

Dan Sarandrea (Phila) said:
I am intrigued by:

c. 1983 not being the year with the least survivors, as IIRC this was the changeover year with the fewest cars imported.
Click to expand...

No...according to figures I have seen - paging Greg again - 1982 had far fewer imported than 1983. 1982 was the year Fiat was winding down here and only brought about 800 in.

Dan Sarandrea (Phila) said:
I would have expected some higher percentage of Spiders to survive as compared to X1/9s, since after all the Spider was the more expensive of the two when they were selling new (maybe by 20% +/- ?), and was the much easier of the two to own and live with. But 7-to-1 is a huge disparity worthy of some discussion and conjecture.
Click to expand...

Yup......

Dan Sarandrea (Phila) said:
is the Spider a better built car than the X? Is it 7 times better built?
Click to expand...

No comment....:)
 
I think it says a lot about the bigger Spider numbers that Fiat chose to build a new 124 with Mazda rather than the X.
 
I knew the number would be quite low. I have seen a grand total of three (3) X1/9's on the road since I first bought mine a few years ago. And I live in the Bay Area with 10's of millions of cars!

Maybe by next year the '74 model number will increase to 72, that is if i can get motivated again and get my act together!
 
I have to say that I really think that there are more cars out there than those registered numbers indicate. Maybe only 1034 registered in the US but there has to be more actual cars than that? I never thought that they were that rare!

As someone who owns three X1/9's and two Fiat Spiders and loves both of them dearly I would not say that the Spider is better built than the X1/9. If anything I would say that the X1/9 is better built but both cars are good cars and they are very different. The Spider is larger and more roomy inside and I think that may have a great impact on it's greater popularity in the US. The X1/9 fits you like a glove and there is no extra room to spare inside and many people are just too physically large to fit inside comfortably but they could easily fit inside the Spider.
 
Rodger said:
I think it says a lot about the bigger Spider numbers that Fiat chose to build a new 124 with Mazda rather than the X.
Click to expand...

I don't think there was much "choice" involved.

FIAT product planning guy 1: This retro stuff is doing OK, the 500's been a good seller for us worldwide.

FIAT product planning guy 2: Hey, let's team up with someone to more or less badge-engineer a car to evoke some of our other past models! You do the Spider and I'll do the X1/9.

<<<FIAT product planning guys look around>>>

FIAT product planning guy 1: OK if we do a new Spider we could hook up with Mazda and use the Miata.

FIAT product planning guy 2: OK if we do a new X1/9 we...uh....[insert crickets and tumbleweeds here]....I got nuthin'.

FIAT product planning guys: Introducing the new FIAT 124 Spider!
 
Rupunzell said:
How many Lancia Scorpions remain in this data base?

Bernice
Click to expand...

Sorry...i did not get numbers on Lancias...or Pininfarinas. I actually did later attempt to weasel Scorpion #s.......but alas it appeared my charm had run out......

I can only guess there are well under 100 "on the road" in North America.....with another perhaps 200-300 festering/projects/sleeping/derelict....


gwbfiat said:
I have to say that I really think that there are more cars out there than those registered numbers indicate. Maybe only 1034 registered in the US but there has to be more actual cars than that? I never thought that they were that rare!
Click to expand...

Of course there are. As i said several times..my numbers are ONLY those X1/9s that were CURRENTLY REGISTERED AND CURRENTLY PLATED - ie "on the road" as of fall 2018. Likely several more times that number still around in one form or another......
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top