Why the X1/9...???
- Thread starter wrxdrew
- Start date
jjay911
True Classic
...we DON'T know the rest! You need to share.
You are going to have to use your imagination. Or We can talk about it over some beers some day...:drink:
It went something like that scene in Starky in Hutch where his friend passes out from doing too much drugs.....
willrace4beer
True Classic
When I was 16, I bought a new 1970 850 Spider.
I loved that spider. When the X1/9s came out, many of my fellow FIAT America club members started buying them. However, the design didn't appeal to me at the time and I never even drove in one. I had just started autocrossing the 850 and was doing very well with it. In 1973, I won the Northern CA autocross championship in G Stock. In 1974, I won the CA state championship in G Prepared. In 1976, I bought a second 850 Spider and started building an SCCA H-Prod racecar which was ready in 1978 after autocrossing it for a year in G Prodified (production modified).
In 1982, I stopped racing the 850, went to grad school, got married, bought a house, had kids and started driving Acuras and other cars I didn't have to work on.
In 1999, after determining that it was unlikely that I'd ever race the 850 Spider again, I went to a FIAT America meeting to look for someone that would be interested in it. At the meeting, the first person I recognized said he'd take the car off of my hands. In that meeting, I remembered how fun it was to have a sports car and what a great group of people there was in the club. One of the members asked me what it would take to get me back into the club. I thought for a minute and said I wouldn't mind having a convertible to play around with. My kids were grown and I had the time again to play with cars. The member, who I knew was a big fan of the 850, asked me if I had ever driven an X1/9. I told him I wasn't a fan of them when they first came out. He said it was a phenomenal handler and I just had to drive one. I did and was immediately hooked. The style of the car had also grown on me. A few months later, I bought an '85 with 50,000 original miles and proceeded to do the usual modifications. I still have that car. In 2002, I bought the '74 race car and started racing it. Late last year, I bought a '74 for the street and installed a dual-DCNF, HC 1500 engine and 5-speed tranny. I'll probably always have at least one X1/9.
Regards,
I loved that spider. When the X1/9s came out, many of my fellow FIAT America club members started buying them. However, the design didn't appeal to me at the time and I never even drove in one. I had just started autocrossing the 850 and was doing very well with it. In 1973, I won the Northern CA autocross championship in G Stock. In 1974, I won the CA state championship in G Prepared. In 1976, I bought a second 850 Spider and started building an SCCA H-Prod racecar which was ready in 1978 after autocrossing it for a year in G Prodified (production modified).
In 1982, I stopped racing the 850, went to grad school, got married, bought a house, had kids and started driving Acuras and other cars I didn't have to work on.
In 1999, after determining that it was unlikely that I'd ever race the 850 Spider again, I went to a FIAT America meeting to look for someone that would be interested in it. At the meeting, the first person I recognized said he'd take the car off of my hands. In that meeting, I remembered how fun it was to have a sports car and what a great group of people there was in the club. One of the members asked me what it would take to get me back into the club. I thought for a minute and said I wouldn't mind having a convertible to play around with. My kids were grown and I had the time again to play with cars. The member, who I knew was a big fan of the 850, asked me if I had ever driven an X1/9. I told him I wasn't a fan of them when they first came out. He said it was a phenomenal handler and I just had to drive one. I did and was immediately hooked. The style of the car had also grown on me. A few months later, I bought an '85 with 50,000 original miles and proceeded to do the usual modifications. I still have that car. In 2002, I bought the '74 race car and started racing it. Late last year, I bought a '74 for the street and installed a dual-DCNF, HC 1500 engine and 5-speed tranny. I'll probably always have at least one X1/9.
Regards,
Last edited:
Dayton Tom
Tom Marcellino
Opportunity was the only reason..
having just gone through a divorce at the time... two former co-workers were talking and I had actually ridden in the car. However, it was just parked and left in a very damp garage for 5 years, keys still in the ignition. He was talking about unloading it. The concept of a project car sounded good, so I just said "take a couple hundred to get it out of your way?" $250.00 for the car $260.00 for the new tires to be able to tow it home... That was October 2004...
having just gone through a divorce at the time... two former co-workers were talking and I had actually ridden in the car. However, it was just parked and left in a very damp garage for 5 years, keys still in the ignition. He was talking about unloading it. The concept of a project car sounded good, so I just said "take a couple hundred to get it out of your way?" $250.00 for the car $260.00 for the new tires to be able to tow it home... That was October 2004...
tomnj
Old fogie stogie
That may be the reason some people are here, but not me. Actually I am into 128's and other Fiat's (I have owned an X 1/9 once and loved it), but I think for most people it's much more complicated than "cheap thrills" or even just "thrills". Fiat's aren't too expensive, but I find them more fun than anything else I've driven (including Alfa's and Porsche's), so the cost savings for me is just a bonus. Ask the average muscle head which car they'd rather have, a 1969 Chevy or a 1969 Caddy and the vast majority would pick the Chevy even though the Caddy is a more expensive car. Fiat is like that (for me) too. About the only car I find more appealing, if cost was no object, would be an Abarth Fiat.
For me it's partially the look of the car (tied in with the memories of my childhood when I saw these cars and loved them before I started driving), the way they sound, the way they smell (yes, even that), the way they drive, etc. I could get "cheap thrills" from a 1976 V8 Chevy Nova, so saying the X 1/9 is for "cheap thrills" is sort of an insult. It's the whole package, and there's nothing better at any price for me. Except an Abarth...