FIAT X1/9—EXPERIENCING AN R&T TIME MACHINE PART 1

FIFTY YEARS AGO, R&T SAID THE FIAT’S X1/9 “is the first good-looking open mid-engine roadster available to buyers of modest means. In nearly every way imaginable—handling, ride, looks, comfort, luggage space, fuel economy—except straight-line performance, it outdoes every other directly competing sports car. Impressive credentials indeed.”

R&T’s John Dinkel maneuvers the X1/9. This and following images from R&T, May 1974.

However, concluding that same May 1974 road test, the magazine wrote, “About the only charge that can be made against it is that it’s not likely to be any more durable than other Fiats, which are traditionally rather fragile.” 

Fix-It-Again-Tony, eh?

What with shelves of R&Ts dating back to the late 1940s, I have a Fiat X1/9 time machine, only this one travels forward from the car’s 1974 U.S. introduction through its final iteration in 1989. Here, in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow, are tidbits gleaned from these R&Ts, from Internet sources, and from my own enjoyment of the X1/9.

May 1974 Road Test. Among the X1/9’s virtues was its shift linkage: “The Fiat’s gear change is excellent,” R&T reported, “precise and quick, with none of the vagueness associated with the usual midship design.”

“The ride, handling, and roadholding are all great, with the usual Fiat expertise applied to the always potentially outstanding mid-engine layout…. The Michelin XAS radials of the test car must share credit with the chassis for the Fiat’s outstanding road manners; their grip is always phenomenal relative to their size.” 

There was that caveat about straight-line performance, though: The X1/9’s 0-60 time of 15.3 seconds gave away a second to its Triumph Spitfire and MG Midget competitors. And its top speed of 93 mph wasn’t exactly soul-stirring either.

One of Ten Best for a Changing World, 1975. Overall, the X1/9’s attributes placed it first among Sports Cars Under $5500 in the magazine’s June 1975 assessments: “With its unsightly 1975 bumpers the little X1/9 roadster doesn’t look nearly as good as it used to but it still has no trouble winning its class. Tiny and yet remarkably roomy for two people, it brings the qualities of mid-engine design to the lowest price level so far, delivering superb handling and braking. Its engine is small and the performance mild at best, but it’s a willing and smooth engine that doesn’t mind being used to its limit.”

Commenting on its “for a Changing World” theme, the magazine continued, “The X1/9 is another of those cars that seems particularly appropriate for the times, combining a lot of fun with high fuel economy (about 25 mpg) rather than emphasizing brute performance that can be frustrating in American driving.” This, you might recall, were days of the National 55-mph limit (which didn’t get increased to 65 mph until 1987). 

More Displacement, A 5th Gear, 1979. Increasingly challenging emission standards sapped performance, and Fiat countered in 1979 with a 1498-cc four producing 67 hp/66 California (remember those oddities?) compared with the earlier X1/9 1290-cc’s 61.5/60 California.

Fiat also swapped the original 4-speed for a 5-speed. And California examples (like R&T’s test car) had a different rear-end ratio than federal cars.

Dottie Clendenin drives the 1979 test car. (Sorry about the thick bound volume’s distortion. (No tear sheets here.)

R&T reported, “Increased power and the 5-speed gearbox result in performance significantly better than that of previous X1/9s. Top speed, for instance, is a whopping 20 mph higher than the most recent X1/9 we tested (1979 Sports & GT Guide), 110 vs 90 mph. And its 0-60 time of 11.1 seconds puts the new X1/9 in company with cars that used to pull away with ease, the Triumph TR7 and Porsche 924, to name a couple.”

Any tradeoff in fuel economy? Not major: “Where our most recent 1290-cc X1/9 exhibited fuel economy of 30.5 mpg, we found the new car consuming its fuel at a still thrifty 28.0 mpg.”

Surely a tradeoff of the X1/9 that I’d accept. And, by the way, I admired the gal driving as well.

Also, I love this Brockbank cartoon of DRS origins revealed whilst researching all this.  

Tomorrow in Part 2, our time machine will travel to an X1/9’s 1980 road test, a 1981 award, my own piloting, and a 1988 Used Car Classic. (It has a happy ending too.) ds 

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 202