Nice X for sale, is this what they go for now?

carl

carl

True Classic

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In my mind $6,500 is a lot of money for this car but I'm admittedly out of touch. Seems nice except for the rust at the bottom of the passenger door. In my world this is a desirable model as it has no AC and crank windows. Wheels are very cool and if you look in the rear trunk, are those Koni struts? No dreaded rust around the windshield. How did the engine bay get so nasty looking?
 
The prices on Xs are still crazy to me. Given how wild the car market has been the last few years, I can't believe how Xs have been immune to price mark-ups. $6500 for a mid-engine Italian sports car from a famous designer seems absurdly low. I know the nicest Xs go for double that but these cars still feel really undervalued. In an age where cars become more and more complicated, synthetic, and disconnected from the driver, the X offers so much that enthusiasts are clamoring for, yet the market doesn't seem to have caught onto how cool these little things are.
 
I have found the price of everything is going through the roof. I feel like I am getting old. My parents used to complain about the cost of things, and here I am doing the same darn thing. But I agree, that 6500 car was a 1500 (if even) car not too long ago. However, for the car, it looks like a good start. Has been siting for awhile but the Campys on it, plus potential Koni struts, would be welcome.
 
Condition is everything.

It looks like this car has been setting outside, under a tree, for a long time. I would want to see what the floors look like. Rusted? The rust on the door makes me think that there may be a lot more rust in that car. It certainly warrants a lot closer look. While my guess is that it might be possible to "restore" this car to like new condition, I think you spend much more getting it there than you might spend to simply buy an X in showroom condition.

On the other hand, if you just want a driver/fixer-upper, this car might be for you. But if that's all you want my guess is that you might be able to find one in that condition for a lot less money? Maybe the seller is open to offers? Maybe he's just hoping someone will just buy the car without considering alternatives? One thing that's pretty sure - he won't get $6,500 unless he asks for it. But, if he really wants to sell it, I would think he would have more success by pricing it at, or around, $2,500. Just my opinion. :)
 
fastx19 said:
I have found the price of everything is going through the roof. I feel like I am getting old. My parents used to complain about the cost of things, and here I am doing the same darn thing. But I agree, that 6500 car was a 1500 (if even) car not too long ago. However, for the car, it looks like a good start. Has been siting for awhile but the Campys on it, plus potential Koni struts, would be welcome.
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I feel the exact same. I find myself sounding like a old grumpy codger (which I guess I am) complaining about how much things cost. But ya, prices for everything have skyrocketed. It seems like COVID kicked that off somehow and it never stopped. I distinctly remember some sources saying the increases for certain things would be temporary and come back down once life returned to normal....never happened. And yet the interest rates paid by banks haven't improved, investments haven't increased substantially, property values in most areas haven't escalated to the same degree. It all seems one sided. I know we don't discuss politics here so I'll just say I wonder how much of this has been artificially generated by certain public sectors.
 
MikeHynes said:
It looks like this car has been setting outside, under a tree, for a long time. I would want to see what the floors look like. Rusted? The rust on the door makes me think that there may be a lot more rust in that car. It certainly warrants a lot closer look.
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Completely agree. The new paint may be hiding a huge mess of rust everywhere. That door corner certainly looks like a poorly repaired rust area that was painted over and has resurfaced. But in general the car does not look too bad.

I'll never understand why people place ads without bothering to clean things up first.
 
Defiantly more pictures needed. The engine deck lid looks rusted possibly badly, you can see the dirt and crap this was covered in on the wheels and the side molding. Looks like some of the outside might have gotten inside on the seats. But it does look solid assuming not a lot of body fill. It is a Schrödinger cat X1/9, until you open it up it is both desirable and to be avoided at the same time. Anyone going to open the lid 🐱
 
Dr.Jeff said:
Completely agree. The new paint may be hiding a huge mess of rust everywhere. That door corner certainly looks like a poorly repaired rust area that was painted over and has resurfaced. But in general the car does not look too bad.

I'll never understand why people place ads without bothering to clean things up first.
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He did clean it up - he washed it. :) Cleaning up the leaves on the windshield was too much after the task of pulling it out from under whatever tree it had been sitting under for the past 5+ years.
 
I have dragged a lot of Xs home and none had an engine bay looking that bad. That shot seems not to match the apparent condition of the rest of the car. Even has a SS coolant tank. A previous owner was doing some nice stuff to it, wonder what the back story is.

Visualistics, you get a little too hung up on designer labels and engine placment. Xs are now old Italian cars that were slow when new with old Italian electrics .....but.....respond nicely to mods and handle well right from the get go. Assume tires are too old to keep, brakes need a thorough going through and good luck with the FI manual finding out why it was parked two years ago. Don't forget to power wash all that crap out of the engine bay. I would do the above, rip out the FI and install dual carbs with a header/turbo muffler......and end up with basically the same X I rejuvenated last year and sold for 2/3 of that asking price. And that was with a rebuilt motor and rebuilt gearbox.
 
It has potential. Assuming the insides of the wheels are as good looking as the outside, then it's probably worth $1,200 - $1,500 for the wheels alone. And it the paint job is as good as it shows, that adds a bit to the value as does the bottle of Redline Transmission fluid in the rear trunk, so maybe $1,500 - $2,000 (saying this as a self-described "jaded Californian). Beyond that, the lack of detailed pictures of other parts of the car, the lack of history of what happened when it stopped wanting to start, the surface(?) rust evident in the engine compartment, on the engine compartment lid, makes this a questionable purchase. Was it painted and then parked? Is there any documentation of the paint job - the fact the mushrooms for the front trunk lid were painted makes me think the paint job was "quick and dirty" with less focus made for any rust or repairs that were needed was neglected. The rear access panel was painted, but is that rust or an accumulation of dirt at the screw holes? That doesn't happen overnight so wherever it sat, it likely sat wet.

I have to wonder if this is a "Ok already! I posted it for sale but everyone is low-balling me" type of for sale listing...
 
Probably one of the better examples of why you would want to go look at it before making an offer. Could be a real nice car or a $1,200 special.
Don't forget, not all of us need a factory fresh looking X (or any Fiat) to fully enjoy it.
 
carl said:
I have dragged a lot of Xs home and none had an engine bay looking that bad. That shot seems not to match the apparent condition of the rest of the car. Even has a SS coolant tank. A previous owner was doing some nice stuff to it, wonder what the back story is.

Visualistics, you get a little too hung up on designer labels and engine placment. Xs are now old Italian cars that were slow when new with old Italian electrics .....but.....respond nicely to mods and handle well right from the get go. Assume tires are too old to keep, brakes need a thorough going through and good luck with the FI manual finding out why it was parked two years ago. Don't forget to power wash all that crap out of the engine bay. I would do the above, rip out the FI and install dual carbs with a header/turbo muffler......and end up with basically the same X I rejuvenated last year and sold for 2/3 of that asking price. And that was with a rebuilt motor and rebuilt gearbox.
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I get it, and I'm not necessarily of the mind that all those attributes mean the car is actually worth much more, but to many car enthusiasts those types of things are really desirable. Surely the Fiat badging doesn't help, as Fiat simply doesn't have the cache of something like an Alfa or Maserati or Ferrari, whether that's earned or not.
I just know that it's VERY hard to find any running car for <$5k these days, and the X which is undoubtedly cooler and more fun than most other $5k cars, so from that perspective I feel it's undervalued. But you're right, most people buying used cars aren't looking for a 50 year old "cool" or "fun" car. Enthusiasts are a small subset of car buyers. We all know that, otherwise sporty brown, manual station wagons would sell like hotcakes.
 
visualistics said:
I just know that it's VERY hard to find any running car for <$5k these days
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I know what you mean. The other day I took my elderly mom to a Dr appointment and had plenty of time to kill while waiting. So I got online with my phone and opened CraigsList for the first time in a long time, just to see what was being offered locally. I put a price limit of $3500 max and about 150 vehicles came up, but two thirds of them were dealers with the price being the down payment. Of the handful of ones that were actually offered under that price limit it was a rather odd mix. About half were complete junk worth no more than scrap value. But the others consisted of a little of everything - from later models of Mercedes and BMWs, to a range of typical American and Asian stuff, and a few old "projects". What I found interesting is how the same money could get you a very respectable, quality car that needs some repairs to absolute crap that isn't even fixable. Pretty much all of them were right at the $3000-3500 end of the range which was the bottom of the barrel in terms of prices. The exact same stuff was $500-1000 a couple of years ago.
 
My wife wants a "farm truck". Ideal would be a 47 - 54 Advanced Design GM, but almost any step side would be considered. I live in the center of America - you think this would be easy. $6000 seems to be the entry price for anything that has glass in it. I realize that these are asking price, but c'mon. I can't expect to talk them down to $2500 from there.

2018 I figured that $4000 was a good running car, weather you bought it that way or bought a $2000 runner and brought it up to snuff. Now I think the math ends up around $8K.
 
Mark_Toro said:
My wife wants a "farm truck". Ideal would be a 47 - 54 Advanced Design GM, but almost any step side would be considered. I live in the center of America - you think this would be easy. $6000 seems to be the entry price for anything that has glass in it. I realize that these are asking price, but c'mon. I can't expect to talk them down to $2500 from there.

2018 I figured that $4000 was a good running car, weather you bought it that way or bought a $2000 runner and brought it up to snuff. Now I think the math ends up around $8K.
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All trucks in general have skyrocketed in recent years. A current industry report states that trucks are the number one segment (OEM and aftermarket) and the number one trend (also OEM and aftermarket). And it seems to cross all genres; old, new, industrial, custom, show, work, daily driver, slammed, raised, on-road, off-road, you name it.
 
Dr.Jeff said:
All trucks in general have skyrocketed in recent years. A current industry report states that trucks are the number one segment (OEM and aftermarket) and the number one trend (also OEM and aftermarket). And it seems to cross all genres; old, new, industrial, custom, show, work, daily driver, slammed, raised, on-road, off-road, you name it.
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and here is Aus too.
 
The only deals you are going to get on old cars is from someone who really doesn't know the current market and, like us, is still thinking in 1990s pricing. They are out there but you have to keep watching all the time. This means no auction sites, no dealers, just Craigslist, FBM or even word of mouth.
 
Local FSBO is the best. Dealers and auction sites are probably fair market value when the deal closes (knock 20% off a dealers ask - at least)

Most of my low dollar acquisitions came through these forums or friends. The X auction in New Mexico was posted here = '74 for $200. My Alfettas (free) came from a friend of a friend and a friend - all who needed to clear some space. The Milano ($2500) came from an Alfa BB member in eastern Iowa who posted it for sale. Spider ($2600) was a craigslist find - and I spent too much, but it runs good. :)

My son's $1000 Porsche 944 came from a local contact who's son had lost interest in the project (We added $1000 in tires, brakes etc. and he drove it for seven years - now retired in the barn)

Lastly the truck was a $3800 craigslist find ('88 F250 diesel 5-speed 4X4). Most expensive, but probably most utilized of all of them.

Much of buying well has to do with understanding what you want, shopping a lot to set your expectations of what to pay and being in a position to do so when it comes available. I don't think any of these were from someone who didn't know the value. Most were the typical old car situation of not enough space and the need to move on. I think all POs were satisfied to have someone use/keep/save the vehicles. I'm blessed with three things:
  1. A supportive wife
  2. A large barn
  3. The ability and desire to work on this junk.
 
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