X1/9s Next to Other Vehicles

myronx19 said:
I borrowed my friend's 308 for a day (was doing some electrical work on it) - fun car, but honestly ... I prefer driving the X1/9 a lot more (aside from the low power, however... the 308 is not really quick either!)
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But the 308 is so pretty.... 🥰 I've occasionally dreamed of owning one if I ever get more garage space and/or bored of the X. That said, I worry that driving an X spoils you for pretty much all other cars. Like, I worry that a 308 would feel like a lumber wagon. Was that your impression--why did you prefer the X so much more?
 
JTBernhardt said:
Good to know, I did a lot of the work on the car for the guy who bought it in SF and then later sold it, I've been trying to track it down to keep tabs on it, it was a decent car with an okay respray. I set most of the mechanical back to stock, replaced all the brakes and installed EBC greenstuff pads, and a bunch of electrical and other finishing work.
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The car was an amateur restoration by someone in Michigan that passed away shortly after it was done. The car was ok for what it was, but I never did anything with it as I didn't see any upside with all the needs it had. I needed a smog exempt chassis for my K20 build, but that car, while far from perfect, was still a little too good to sacrifice for a swap so I moved on. I found a '74 roller in Northern CA that had a perfect body (except front floors) that needed everything else for no money, so it was perfect for a "guilt-free" swap.
 
bjwhite said:
sigh. Miami Vice!!?!? Cammmmmon! haha. j/k

308 GTS was Magnum PI. Miami Vice was at first a black Daytona Spyder kit car (based on a Corvette) until that was blown up then he got a white Testarossa.
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LOL - OK so it was the Testarossa. Shows how much attention I pay to high end sports cars (of any marque) 🤪 I was conflating MV with Magnum PI...
 
lookforjoe said:
LOL - OK so it was the Testarossa. Shows how much attention I pay to high end sports cars (of any marque) 🤪 I was conflating MV with Magnum PI...
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Don't worry. A Dallara bodied X1/9 is much more exclusive than a TR. Yours is more rare.
 
At a Cars and Coffee last fall:

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It's wild how much the color seems to change on your X from day to night--it looks very red in the top photo between the Maserati and the Ferrari (BB?), but then looks very orange next to the Lamborghini at night.
 
Dr.Jeff said:
It is interesting how automakers have constantly evolved most of their models to get bigger and bigger every couple of years. I think it is mostly marketing; buy the new model because it is bigger, and we all know bigger is better. :rolleyes: But that is American mentality. Look at the size of cars pretty much anywhere else in the world, by comparison MUCH smaller than ours on the whole. We seldom even see the smaller models from foreign automakers because they won't sell here. Every time I travel I see lots of amazing small cars I wish we could get.
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I saw a documentary that suggested that the original small version of a car e.g VW Golf/Rabbit gets bigger in following versions as the customer base matures and gets bigger - bigger finances, bigger commitments (family etc) and physically bigger (to put it politely!) . The original size car is replaced by another model for a new younger generation e.g VW Polo that in turn was replaced by a new model VW Lupo.
 
speedy fiat said:
I saw a documentary that suggested that the original small version of a car e.g VW Golf/Rabbit gets bigger in following versions as the customer base matures and gets bigger - bigger finances, bigger commitments (family etc) and physically bigger (to put it politely!) . The original size car is replaced by another model for a new younger generation e.g VW Polo that in turn was replaced by a new model VW Lupo.
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Agreed. Happened to the Audi A4 over the years and now the A4 is so big they turned the formerly hatch-only A3 into the new old A4-sized A3 sedan. And don't even get me started on the 3-series BMW. Remember how small the Camry was back in 1983? And the Accord? And the Civic?
 
speedy fiat said:
I saw a documentary that suggested that the original small version of a car e.g VW Golf/Rabbit gets bigger in following versions as the customer base matures and gets bigger
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Yes, very true. The weight of my Golf R Mk6 is 1550kg and I think a VW Golf Mk1 was less than a tonne. But on the other hand, I've gained some weight over the years as well.
 
There's another economic explanation--an arms race/collective-action problem. Vehicles can act as "combatant goods."

Collectively, we'd all be better off if everyone drove smaller vehicles--better mileage, better handling, more parking available, less traffic (you can fit two X's in the same space as one Caddy, as we've seen above!), etc.

But each individual is incentivized to buy a bigger vehicle, as it makes them safer in a crash. Unfortunately, buying and driving a bigger vehicle imposes a negative externality on all drivers of smaller vehicles, in the form of more risk of injury in a crash. Thus, your action (buying a bigger car) changes my incentives (I need to buy a bigger car). And so on it goes, ad infinitum... Or in this case, "ad Cadillac Escaladum."
 
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