Audi Repair Shop Doylestown
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Sales of
began in the United States in 1974, and the price tag was very reasonable for a mid-engined Italian two-seater. For a time, these cars were common sights on American streets, at least in non-rusty areas. Then Americans became disillusioned with the
brand, and the company folded its tent and departed the continent after 1982, not returning until 2010. Automotive dealmaker
saw an opportunity at that point, and his company began bringing in 124 Sport Spiders badged as Pininfarinas and X1/9s badged as Bertones. Here’s an ’85 Bertone in a California wrecking yard.
Fiat had hired
to design the X1/9 in the first place, so the badging change wasn’t so jarring to those Americans familiar with the
. Bricklin
to the United States in the late 1960s, started
in the middle 1970s, then went on to bring a
Yugoslavian-built Fiat 127 variant
to these shores, via the same company that was already bringing in the X1/9.
Power came from what amounted to a Fiat 128 engine/transaxle assembly, mounted just behind the rear window. In 1985, the Bertone X1/9 had 75 horsepower and weighed just over a ton.
This car still has the allegedly valuable hardtop. I’m pretty sure that every American X1/9 owner has several of these stashed away by now.
Optimistically, Bertone used a six-digit odometer in this car. 188,285 miles would have been pretty respectable in a 1985
, never mind a Fiat known for shaky electrical systems and poor build quality. I still
see quite a few X1/9s in the big self-service wrecking yards
, and even more 124 Sport Spiders.
The seat upholstery is very stylish.
I checked this car’s VIN on
the California smog-check database,
which shows that it last passed the emissions test in 2009. Perhaps something broke soon after that and the car awaited
that never came.
It has both a trunk
and
a frunk.
Just a thing for a nice leisurely drive on a salt flat.
from Autoblog http://bit.ly/2J6VJJj