Fiat X19 vs Ferrari 308

Thanks for this! I had a '74 Chrome Yellow X1/9 I got with 5K miles on it in 1975 when I was a senior in high school. Close as I could get to the cars I had posters of.
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Much later had a 1980 308 GTS and liked the X1/9 better. Easy and natural at low speeds, not a heavy chore like the 308. The handling was so fine I think it must have been a happy accident.
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To be that age again!
Gotta say, your 308 sure was pretty. Really nice photo!

 

This is an old thread from '09 but what the heck...A friend had an X1/9 back in the day and it - at least his - was a real piece of junk. Always seemed broken, it rusted out rather quickly, had no power at all, etc. It was our "joke car" reference, as in if somebody made a favorable comment about a car we didn't care for, the response was something like, "Are you kidding me, Jeez, I'd rather have a Fiat X1/9 than one of those!" That was always accompanied by much laughter.

"to be that age again"

Going back to "that age" has absolutely no appeal to me at all. If a genie showed up and told me he was going to make me 18 (or whatever) again, I'd grab my shotgun... which probably doesn't work on genies.

 

Made me laugh out loud this morning, thank you!
While I’m pretty content with the way things are (and sounds like a lot of work to be 18 again) it was a terrific time in my life. Best of friends, best of times and wouldn’t trade it for the world.

 

I’d love to relive the 80s, exactly as it was, all over again.

 

I drove my X1/9 from San Antonio to San Fransisco and up the coast to Washington and back the summer of '76. No problems. It helped that I had David Kehl sort it out. He was the exotic car guy in San Antonio back in those days. They were reliable as long as you kept up with them, which the vast majority of owners didn't do. I haven't seen a decent one in ages.

 

Strike a faustian deal with the Devil, he might make it possible...But he might also ask you for your car as an exchange...

Rgds

 

Hmmm...sounds like one of Dante's "levels" to me!

I worked with a guy and also with a lady (at different times) and both of them talked constantly about how great it would be to be back in high school. He was a star football player, she was 'miss popularity.' It's literally all they talked about in casual conversation, as if their lives ended - at least the enjoyable part - when they graduated. OTOH, I pretty much hated every minute of school! Oh well, we're all different which is what makes life interesting!

 

I do not miss school, or high school for the matter, either, Mike...

Rgds

 

I’m no proverbial “Uncle Rico” (Napoleon Dynamite reference for the old folks) but the 80s were special to me. I turned ten in 1980. I look back on my youth and “coming of age” fondly. It was fun, and the realities of the world were just around the corner. Maybe another thread for all this?

Back on topic, I considered a X1/9 as they were sort of a mini 308 but went with a 83 Toyota Celica GT. No regrets. The 308 remained on my bedroom wall and in my dreams throughout the 80s.

 

I responded to this thread in 2009, comparing my Dad's 1979 Fiat X19 with my 1988 Mondial 3.2 cab. My Dad is now near 90 years old and still owns his X19, him being the original owner. I still own my Mondial, as the second owner. Time flies!

Something about both of these cars that created a special bond and both are rolling art in a sea of mostly bland and mis proportioned modern cars. There is no question that the Fiat is a light and very engaging drive. The Mondial does feel more grown up and serious, but there is definitely a sense of shared DNA between the cars.

 

Shared DNA? Oh my, my...from there to saying that a 3x8 or Mondial is nothing but a bigger FIAT...
So the 12 cylinders owners were right in the end..."park it over there, with the other FIATs"

Rgds

 

As I was told literally word for word by a 12 cyl Ferrari owner at a meet near Annapolis a few years ago!

 

Maybe it's useful to remember that the correct name of FIAT X19 is FIAT X1/9. So the name is not FIAT X nineteen: it's Fiat X one-nine.

This said, here it was very common in light green color (that was the color of a very well known Fiat advertise of the time about X1/9 early model, the 1.3 liters): a very fun and strange car, a mix between a Fiat (all the mechanic) and a Ferrari (as layout and look)

ciao
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Frankly, I find it hard to believe anybody sees a "resemblance" between the two cars OTHER than they are both Fiats and Italian. I suppose the same "resemblance " exists between a Ford Pinto and a Shelby Mustang - which are both Fords and American. But no one would consider them even remotely related.

 

Resemblance is one was an affordable mid-engine car, the other was an “affordable” Ferrari that happened to be their second—though actually designed first—mid engine production car. More than one magazine in the day did a X1/9-vs-308 “comparison”.

The X1/20, which became the Lancia Montecarlo/Scorpion was even more of a Ferrari with its mid-engine Pininfarina designed body often compared to the BB.

 

BTW, the car that eventually replaced the X1/9 in my heart is my current 2000 360 Modena sunroof/stick. It's even the same color as the X1/9. I can't tell the difference between FIAT's Chrome Yellow and Ferrari's Modena Yellow, myself.

I had dreams about the X1/9 for many years. They stopped when I got the 360. I did the same trip to the west coast in the 360 fall of 2019 as I did in the X1/9 summer of '76. Both trips were epic and like bookends on my Italian automobile experience.

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The 308 was too primitive after all the newer vehicles I've had. The 360 has ABS and traction control, which I like to have.

And power assist for the steering.

 

How would that 8 foot tall woman ever fit into the X1/9?

 

The girl is standing on the door sill, but even if she were 6 foot high, you could remove the roof and fit her into the car. Or, even better, bendover on the car lid.

Ciao

 

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At seventeen, I didn't realize this '76 X1/9 was a gateway drug for the dreamy exotic 308!
My 308 was probably on the assembly line when this picture was taken!
......I have not seen one in several years now

 

Here's my old X1/9 at the worlds oldest motor race - The Brighton Speed Trials in 2006
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brighton_Speed_Trials

 

Which do you tend to drive more? Tough choice, but does either car stand ahead of the other in terms of driving pleasure?

 

I believe it. Something about the 308 is infectious, as far as I can tell. I like my NSX, but I love my 308, and it's the 308 I drive in my daydreams. The NSX is obviously better in every measurable way, but emotionally or something...