Sports car Market magazine article about the X1/9
- Thread starter cozzoi
- Start date
Wyverndude
True Classic
I knew that article seemed familiar...
"X1/9s can be reliable-SCM publisher Martin interviewed an X1/9 owner at Concorso Italiano who proudly proclaimed he had driven his car over 388k miles."
That was me
But the car in the picture isn't mine.
"X1/9s can be reliable-SCM publisher Martin interviewed an X1/9 owner at Concorso Italiano who proudly proclaimed he had driven his car over 388k miles."
That was me
But the car in the picture isn't mine.
Wyverndude
True Classic
If you're here...
If you're here on this forum... you don't need to ask why! An X1/9 has character.
Over the years a number of people have told me I should just buy a new car, and a few of them got me to thinking about it. But -IMHO- you just cannot beat the X1/9's combination of good looks, pedigree, and real-world practicality! You can drive an X1/9 every day, and actually get a week's (or more) worth of groceries in it; and get good gas mileage while you're at it!
There are cars more exotic, and there are (a few) cars that get better gas mileage, and there are cars that ... are there cars that are better looking? I'm not sure about that one.
The argument could be made that a Mazda Miata or a Honda S2000 is a "better" car, but all it takes to own one is to just go to the dealer and sign the dotted line. Anybody with enough money can drive anything they want -including an M3 or 350Z- but you aren't driving an X1/9 (or a Porsche 914 or a Lancia Beta or a Datsun 510) unless you have a real passion for your ride.
Money is not what you need to get into this club.
I bought my 1981 in 1987 with 56K miles and the transaxle literally in a bucket. I've gone through 5 sets of tires, three paint jobs, and rebuilt the engine at 286K (a spark plug broke and the piece gave me a burned valve) only because I got scared into it by a lot of people that told me I had to rebuilt it because it was so old -but during the teardown, I found that ALL of the wear parts were within spec for building an engine from new parts -the only exception being the piston ring grooves for the compression ring.
It's been very reliable and I wouldn't hesitate to take it on a long drive.
It amazes me sometimes to realize that this car is 30 years old (Mfg date is October 1980).
If you're here on this forum... you don't need to ask why! An X1/9 has character.
Over the years a number of people have told me I should just buy a new car, and a few of them got me to thinking about it. But -IMHO- you just cannot beat the X1/9's combination of good looks, pedigree, and real-world practicality! You can drive an X1/9 every day, and actually get a week's (or more) worth of groceries in it; and get good gas mileage while you're at it!
There are cars more exotic, and there are (a few) cars that get better gas mileage, and there are cars that ... are there cars that are better looking? I'm not sure about that one.
The argument could be made that a Mazda Miata or a Honda S2000 is a "better" car, but all it takes to own one is to just go to the dealer and sign the dotted line. Anybody with enough money can drive anything they want -including an M3 or 350Z- but you aren't driving an X1/9 (or a Porsche 914 or a Lancia Beta or a Datsun 510) unless you have a real passion for your ride.
Money is not what you need to get into this club.
I bought my 1981 in 1987 with 56K miles and the transaxle literally in a bucket. I've gone through 5 sets of tires, three paint jobs, and rebuilt the engine at 286K (a spark plug broke and the piece gave me a burned valve) only because I got scared into it by a lot of people that told me I had to rebuilt it because it was so old -but during the teardown, I found that ALL of the wear parts were within spec for building an engine from new parts -the only exception being the piston ring grooves for the compression ring.
It's been very reliable and I wouldn't hesitate to take it on a long drive.
It amazes me sometimes to realize that this car is 30 years old (Mfg date is October 1980).
Coupefan
True Classic
You got me beat
Well, you got me beat. I'm at just over 286,000 miles in mine. Technically, 2.5 engines total. I count the half as a partial tear down to investigate what I thought I was imagining. And it turned out, yes, I was imagining things. The full rebuild came after one of those bloody aftermarket aircleaners allowed some particulate to enter and score a cylinder wall. Back to the stock intake.
Well, you got me beat. I'm at just over 286,000 miles in mine. Technically, 2.5 engines total. I count the half as a partial tear down to investigate what I thought I was imagining. And it turned out, yes, I was imagining things. The full rebuild came after one of those bloody aftermarket aircleaners allowed some particulate to enter and score a cylinder wall. Back to the stock intake.