Junkyard Find: 1978 Fiat X1/9

Murilee Martin
by Murilee Martin

We had an orange ’78 X1/9 Junkyard Find yesterday, so let’s stay in the Microsoft Windows Hot Dog Stand color range and follow up that Fiat with another ’78. This car is also a Denver find, though not at the same junkyard as the orange car.


Yes, Fiat USA advertised the X1/9 on television. Then they split the country a bit later, leaving these cars to be marketed as Bertones by Malcolm “Yugo King” Bricklin.

Can’t open the trunk? Mr. Smooth took matters into his own hands here.

This one has the look of a car that hasn’t run since Reagan was in the White House, but the engine appears unmolested.

Critters have made a comfy-looking nest inside.

I think an X1/9 would make a good first project car for a teenager these days— it’s a cool old sports car that’s fun to drive, parts are easy to find, and an Alfa 164 engine swap makes them very quick.







Murilee Martin
Murilee Martin

Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.

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  • CAMeyer CAMeyer on Aug 03, 2013

    Before contemplating some of the modifications discussed above, please refer to this cautionary, if fictitious, incident: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JATO_Rocket_Car

  • NoGoYo NoGoYo on Aug 03, 2013

    You know what Murilee needs to find now? A Fiero. I still see a decent number NOT in junkyards, but surely there are plenty that have ended up there.

    • See 1 previous
    • NoGoYo NoGoYo on Aug 04, 2013

      @-Nate I've always liked the Fiero, I own a 1:18 scale Fiero GT, but I feel like Murilee and Crabspirits could say some amusing things about it.

  • ToolGuy This is the kind of thing you get when you give people faster internet.
  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
  • Carson D The UAW has succeeded in organizing a US VW plant before. There's a reason they don't teach history in the schools any longer. People wouldn't make the same mistakes.
  • B-BodyBuick84 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport of course, a 7 seater, 2.4 turbo-diesel I4 BOF SUV with Super-Select 4WD, centre and rear locking diffs standard of course.
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