Affordable Italian: 1980 Fiat X1/9
Mid-engine Italian sports cars are generally expensive, but the Fiat X1/9 breaks that mold. This 1980 model is a tidy vehicle with seemingly minor needs, and the asking price could make it an affordable entry into the classic world. The seller inherited the Fiat from their grandfather but feels it needs to go to a new home where it will be appreciated. Therefore, it is listed here on Craigslist in Midwest City, Oklahoma. You could become its new owner by handing the seller $4,000. A big thank you must go to Barn Finder Chuck F for spotting this Italian classic.
Initial impressions of this X1/9 are positive, with its Black paint holding an impressive shine. The close-up photos reveal no significant flaws, and the panels look straight. Since it is an older Italian classic, we must consider the potential for rust issues. There are none visible in the supplied photos and no mention of problems in the listing. However, that isn’t conclusive proof, which would prompt me to perform an in-person inspection. The floors and suspension mounting points are critical, requiring careful attention to ensure the car is structurally sound. Otherwise, the trim and wheels are in good order, and the glass looks flawless.
This Fiat’s interior is a mixed bag, but it is serviceable. The seats show no significant wear on their cloth or vinyl, and the carpet looks nice. Someone has cut speakers into the door trims, and they look pretty jarring. However, replacing the speakers may lift the appearance and save the expense of replacing the trims. The big ticket item will be the dash. The glovebox door is badly cracked, but I found a spotless secondhand one online for $30. The mat almost certainly hides a badly cracked pad, and replacement could prove expensive. If the buyer fancies some DIY, glue-on covers retail for under $100, but the quality can be inconsistent. I’ve heard of owners stripping and fiberglassing the damage, while some report success using products like Polyvance. Otherwise, it may prove a case of exercising patience and regularly scouring online auction sites in search of a replacement.
The seller supplies no engine photos, but the 1980 X1/9 is a mid-engined sports car featuring a 1,498cc four producing a modest 84hp. The power feeds to the rear wheels via a five-speed manual transaxle. While confirming a ¼-mile time is challenging, the overall weight of 2,028lbs means the sprightly Fiat will launch from 0-60mph in 10.4 seconds. The odometer photo reveals a reading of 9,800 miles, but I assume it has rolled over. The car is in generally sound mechanical health, although one problem requires attention. The seller admits driving a stick shift is beyond their skill level, and they’ve done something to the clutch trying. The pedal goes straight to the floor, which is a worry. It could be a simple hydraulic problem or signal a major failure. Once again, only an in-person inspection will determine the truth. However, given the potential value of this Fiat, spending a few dollars rectifying the fault may not prove a financial bottomless pit.
If you seek a classic that will pin you back in your seat when you floor the gas, a 1980 Fiat X1/9 won’t be your weapon of choice. However, if a complete “driver’s” car that can cruise on the freeway but comes alive on twisting roads is your preference, this could be a strong candidate. It is possible to find tidy examples for under $10,000, but it isn’t unusual for spotless examples to command prices beyond $15,000. This car isn’t perfect, and the clutch issue requires investigation. However, if it is rust-free, it could be one of the great buys of 2022.
Auctions Ending Soon
2006 Ford Mustang Saleen S281 SCBid Now1 hours$18,000
2002 Subaru Impreza WRXBid Now3 days$333
1975 Chevrolet Corvette ConvertibleBid Now3 days$3,000
1964 Ford F-100 Camper CustomBid Now3 days$2,000
2006 Jeep Wrangler SportBid Now5 days$10,500
Comments
Add to the list of cars you will never see on the streets outside of a car show.
The body looks good. I guess this car was sitting in the hot sun. The dash board gauges speedo needle what happened to it? Also the tach needle. I never saw anything like that. I drove Fiats before. All types but the X1/9 is different. It handles well and fun to drive. But to work on the engine and transmission where it’s located. Good luck! 🐻🇺🇸
Fiat speedo/tach needles from this era were known to warp like that sitting outdoors under extreme heat/sunlight for extended periods of time, which the severely cracked/sun-bleached dashboard would appear to confirm. The usual solution was to remove and open the gauge cluster, snip off the warped needle, paint a wooden toothpick or length of wire, and glue that in place of the original needle.
Always liked the mid-engined cars, Fiero, MR2, this, I think this was the coolest Fiat to come across the ocean. Too bad, such dismal build quality, I’ll be the 1st to wager, the mileage is accurate. Besides, how do gauge needles get damaged? If I remember, parts then were a nightmare, and something probably sidelined this early on. I had a friend that was a Fiat salesman in the 80s, and there were ALWAYS a dozen or more cars, waiting on parts. These types of cars are the ultimate in personal transportation, but I’d never do it in a Fiat. And the fact someone did something to the clutch, clearly tells me, manual transmissions are obsolete.
These have a hydraulic clutch, so most likely the clutch master and/or slave cylinder(s) just blew a seal and needs to be rebuilt with fresh o-rings.
You can serve dinner off that front bumper, it’s so damned big.
I’ll take the Conquest/Starion behind it.
Blue upholstery faded to purple – but still in overall good condition. A symptom of parking outdoors all the time. Don’t know if the color could be restored/dyed.
This little Fiat looks good from several feet away, but….. are both window cranks broken off? And those gauge needles? Pretty sure 1980 X1/9’s didn’t come with velour seats, and the carpet looks brand new in this one. The door rubber gaskets look pretty sad. With a dash so sun destroyed I can only assume the carpet and seats are new. The seat belts have changed color from the sun exposure as well. Wonder if this a flood ca, definitely needs an in person inspection. But can’t argue with the price. BTW, that ad is one long sentence!
I wonder if the sale includes a fire extinguisher….
love em along w/the MR2 (just sold 1 w/sim problem I corrected along w/some ele and break wrk) the 914-6, ferrero, and Brit examples. “Gettn down in that hole” is easier than I thought it would be (on some).
If I kept the Toy, turbo was next along w/local SCCA fun (gotta go aways here but have trailer).
These cars started rusting on the cargo ship coming across the pond and they spent as much time at the dealership as it did in your driveway
I always wondered were there a European version without those huge front bumpers?
Early Euro versions just had separate rubber nerf bars that wrapped around each corner, leaving the middle of the nose and tail unguarded. Later I think they got the same bumpers seen here, but pushed in closer to the body enough to eliminate the black rubber gap-filler sections.
These were better than the 850’s. But, that’s not saying much.
My older brother had a frog green one when I was in high school I remember it broke down and he couldn’t figure out what was wrong so it sat in the back yard until the repo man showed up to take it.
The first one I ever saw was in front of the dealer in
San Francico,on Van Ness.It was that Pippen Apple Green
color,but had no badges on it.I think that was in 1973.
If you only have $4K and want a sporty car, buy an old Miata. Only buy a Fiat if you like fixing things
Or if one wants to do the K20 Honda swap…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9WE4pNzABE
I have owned three of these. All three were quite reliable and fun. I’m 6’2″ and fit in them, especially easy with the targa roof off. Everybody seems to want to give these cars a bad rap. I doubt if too many of you ever owned one. They suffered from some mechanical and electrical gremlins, but most were easily avoided with proper maintenace. And repairs were not difficult with the aid of a repair manual. These Fiats were like little slot cars, exact handling with a happy redline. As much as I respect them, I now have a Miata. But I do miss the mid engine experience.
Bad place for the speakers… but that’s the least of the worries.
To the new buyer: change the timing belt no matter what the seller says. I found out the hard way when the belt snapped going down the highway. Can you say bent valves?
Haters of the ’73 front vette bumper take note here – this one looks like it could take a 10 mph hit!
5 mph actually, as required by US law at the time.
This has to be the most ridiculously mounted “door” mirror ever! –>
https://images.craigslist.org/00s0s_4BvXtvPVNdjz_0x20oM_1200x900.jpg
One good smack from a clumsy passerbuy in a parking lot & i bet you could crack or even break the glass it’s attached to!
Here we go again – phony “vent” windows added to make it ez for the car maker to incorporate inside adjustable mirror(s) at the expense of better outward vision & ventilation(espec if theres no a/c – or broken a/c!) – vs. mounting the mirror where it SHOULD be – to the STEEL SKIN of the door! arrgh! lol
The mirrors have a joint inside the rubber accordion boot in the middle, so smacking them just folds the mirror out of the way. Happened plenty of times to my Lancia Beta Zagato with a similar mirror setup, never damaged the glass.
Early X1/9s had the mirror mounted to the door skin, but they also still had that fixed quarter-window pane. If you look closely at the car in profile, the door glass can’t lower straight down into the door due to the dogleg at the B-pillar that extends the glass further back than the door skin itself. The seal strip on that quarter window matches the angle of the B-pillar dogleg, making it possible to lower the window into the door at a forward angle supported by parallel channels at both ends.
Yeah, I don’t think a particular mirror design has ever dictated door structure/window mechanism architecture (typically the other way around), but JoeNYWF64 has never designed a car (or any complex engineered product, if I had to guess) and evidently didn’t get the memo that opening vent windows ceased to be fashionable in the ‘70s and were quickly eliminated from most carmakers’ model ranges to simultaneously cut costs and avoid criticism for being “old-fashioned.” Quarter light windows predate not only the brief mid-century period when they commonly openable, but the automobile itself! (The term comes from horse drawn carriages—but the above comment has become so nauseatingly predictable when late 20th-century cars appear on this site that I can almost imagine the commenter seeing a Victorian carriage in a museum and criticizing its “fake vent windows” too—but I’m most curious as to whether he says the same thing when he sees a 1930s car with fixed quarter lights, predating the advent of openable ones by just a few years.)
I had one of these 1980 models, it was silver with black vinyl interior.
Bought it new off the showroom floor…there were several X1/9’s and the Spiders, called the 2000? I walked around all of them, I was all of 19 and my dad was with me, and he said “I would get one of those Spiders if it was me” but I had to have that mid engine wonder, lol.
I had a lot of fun in that car
Seeing this x/19 reminds me of wanting to turn my 2012 fiat 500 pop into an mid engine go-cart. As a front wheel drive go-cart around town it is one of the most fun cars I’ve owned! A fiat yes but with a 5 spd stick more fun than …
So I imagine this mid engined wonder can be a fine machine. As mentioned above with maintenance and general ease of repair … I can only imagine.
Curious about sun damage on this one but if otherwise sound I’d think this would be a great urban go-cart. I’m ready. And I wouldn’t have to make a mess of the wife’s 2012 500 parked outside.
gone.