Timeline · from the magazines
Dated from the Australian magazines in our collection: every local milestone, model change, price and road test, from the first X1/9 driven here in 1977 to the last 54 cars in 1989.
| Series | Years | Engine | Gearbox | Fuel | How you know |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series 1 | 1978 and earlier | 1290 cc | Four-speed | Carburettor | Small bumpers, 1300 engine, four-speed. |
| Series 1.5 | 1979-1980 | 1290 cc | Four-speed | Carburettor | Large wrap-around bumpers but STILL the 1300 and four-speed. That combination is definitive. |
| Series 2 | 1981-1983 | 1498 cc | Five-speed | Carburettor | The 1500 five-speed. Larger bumpers, five-inch wheels. |
| Series 3 | 1987-1990 | 1498 cc | Five-speed | Fuel injection | Bertone badges, no Fiat identification. In Australia, anything built after 1987 is injected. |
Australian-delivered cars. The 1979-80 facelift is the one that catches people out: it looks like the later car but is mechanically the earlier one.
Wheels gets hold of one of the first X1/9s in the country and reports that the car is about to be released here. It is not a local car: the example is English-specification and does not comply with Australian law, right down to its seat belts. On its Pirelli Cinturato P3s it has roadholding "quite outside the experience of nearly all normal car drivers".
The X1/9 reaches the Australian market after years of Australian Design Rule delays. Fiat marks it with a press day at Warwick Farm's short circuit.
Fiat's national advertising manager puts the cost of meeting the Australian Design Rules at $300 to $400 on a car this size.
Motor Manual tests a car from Spencer Motors, South Melbourne. Full marks for steering, ride and road holding; three out of five for engine, gearbox and performance.
Now with an Australian Design Rule compliance plate riveted to the firewall. Wheels declares a sports car revival under way and calls the X1/9 the key to it, while warning that the buyers it was aimed at will not be able to afford it.
Sixty dollars apart on price. The Fiat is beaten in a straight line but keeps the TR7 honest in the tight stuff and out-brakes it. The missing fifth gear dominates the verdict.
The facelift: large wrap-around bumpers with an integrated front air dam, the side stripes deleted, a lockable glovebox at last, Ritmo switchgear, and wider track. The engine and gearbox do not change, and output actually falls.
Wheels, December 1979, p.5 · Motor Manual, January 1980, p.4
Modern Motor tests the facelift; Wheels runs it against a Honda Prelude, an Alfasud Sprint and a Lancia Beta Coupe over two days through Sofala and Hill End. The Fiat wins on economy and loses on handling to the Alfa. On the dynamometer only 34.2 kW reaches the wheels.
Modern Motor, December 1979, p.2 · Wheels, December 1979, p.5
Motor Manual reports the 1500 is still some 18 months away from Australia, and concludes that even so there is no better driver's car around.
The car everyone had waited for. The 1290 is stroked to 1498 cc and a fifth gear is added, with fourth lowered to close the old gap. Auswide's launch kit is dated 8 September 1981. About 1200 four-speed 1300s had been sold here since 1978; Auswide forecasts around 400 of the 1500 in a full year.
Auswide press kit, p.9 · p.10 · p.14 · Wheels, September 1981, p.4
Motor Manual confirms the launch price to the dollar and reckons the car will pull well over 185 km/h in fifth with the roof on.
The price has climbed past $15,000, Commodore SL/X territory, and the car is quietly dropped. The local Series 2 run ends around the middle of the year.
Car Australia, November 1988, p.2 · Unique Cars, Oct-Nov 2004, p.3
Fiat's name is gone from the car entirely. Fewer than 100 are allocated to Australia for the year, and the price has more than tripled since 1978.
A thousand dollars apart on list price. The Toyota is faster, better built and easier to live with, and yet fifteen years on the X1/9 still out-handles it.
Modern Motor tests the fuel-injected car. Discs all round, 227 mm front and rear, on Pirelli P6s.
Australia's final allocation is 54 cars, and they are among the last X1/9s built anywhere. Bertone discontinues the model.
A reasonable car goes for $5,000 to $6,000, with the warning that anything at $3,000 is only worth having for spares. The club register lists about 25 cars.
Early 1300s under $3,000 but expect to spend another $5,000; $5,000 to $7,500 for a good early-eighties 1500; $10,000 and up for a fuel-injected Bertone or a show-quality Series 2.
This is the short version. The full account, with the road tests quoted at length and the disagreements between magazines set out, is in The X1/9 in Australia: A Press History.
Every date and figure on this page was checked against the original scanned page. Click any citation to open it.
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