X1/9 spotted in So. Cal junkyard

Jeff Stich

True Classic
1977 X1/9 spotted in the Santa Fe Springs, CA Pick-A-Part junkyard. Imports section, Row V, space 8:

https://pypimages.azureedge.net/car...jpeg?vehicle=1977+FIAT+X-1/9&w=800&quality=70

1282-82037-14347753.jpeg
 
I have no idea what's still on the car, I just saw the listing on their website while I was looking for another vehicle (GMC truck).
 
The only car in that pic without the hood up. They probably opened the front trunk and realized the motor had already been removed.
So very true many years ago the the French customs wanted to check the trunk back first then to the front only to be told that they were not interested in the engine......
 
Back in the day...I opened the frunk of my car (probably to get a frosty beverage out of the cooler). When I propped the hood up my friend, the (HOT) ditzy blond, was amazed that there was no engine in there! I told her "No, of course not, my car run on air." Her reply - "Really!"

Damn, I miss her...
 
Back in 1976, I had an Audi Fox. I need an engine repair so i went to a nearby garage in Montreal. The mechanics knew Audi was in business with Porsche. So he asked me to open the trunk and, with a blank look, asked me where was my engine... I never went back there.
 
I laughed out loud when the attendant at the DEQ station looked under my '86X with their mirror behind the left front wheel, looking for the cat; I let him walk around the car until he found it at the back. With the car running.
 
Dittos for me with the CA DMV.

My car had been on hiatus for 7 years and I hadta re-register it all over again. The "inspector" asked me to open the hood after copying down the VIN off the windshield. (Incorrectly, I might add, which resulted in a second adventure a month later...)

Anyway, I said "The hood? You mean the trunk pointing at the "frunk", and he says "Yeah". I did so and then remembered there was also a VIN plate on the RH inner fender well and also a VIN stamped on the cowl behind the battery. For an instant, I thought this guy really knew what he was doing and I pointed out these two other locations...

He then says, "No, shaking his head, open the back trunk..." I said that there's nothing back there... but he insisted, so I did.

He just stares and then asks where is the engine, he needs to see the engine. "Oh..." I said, why didn't you just say so... and I opened the engine cover. It was then very obvious he had no idea of what he was looking at! Over the years I have encountered several supposedly "know-it-all" types with the same amount of experience, intelligence and/or interpersonal interactions... and most were CA Licensed Smog Check inspectors.
 
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