Fiat X1/10 (X1/9 redesign) project

Hi,

I'm an automotive design student from Coventry University. I joined this forum with the hope to get some information from the Fiat X1/9 enthusiasts.

Recently I was given a design project at the university which requires me to design a Fiat X1/10 (a new X1/9). The problem is I know close to nothing about this car and therefore set-out to do some serious research. This is how I got here.

I would be very glad if you could help me understand the essence of this car. You could do that by spending some of your time by answering the following questions:

What exactly makes it special for You?
What do You use it for?

Thank You for Your attention!

I would suggest looking at some of the car's history as a starting point - in typical italian style it is quite dramatic, full of controversy and political back-stabbing - almost enough to be a story in its own right.

The first point to remember is that while the car was compromised to keep costs down it was very much built up to a specification rather than built down to a price (no profit was ever made on sales of the X1/9). At a time when your average "fast" was either crude, expensive or both it was a breath of fresh air and introduced the concepts of handling and balance over raw-power to a market largely starved of both.

It also looked pretty cute which helped a lot - with the exception of other italian mid-engined (and very expensive) machinery the other efforts at mid-engined performance were bordering on plain ugly at the start of the 70s - then again so was most of the rest of the car market.

Most people that have owned X1/9s have done so for one of two reasons (with shades of grey in between) - either for the looks or for the handling. I'll probably get hammered for over simplifying this - everyone has their own opinion on the matter...

From my perspective the X1/9 has always been about the handling - any car that drives like this is just a delight. It is thoroughly communicative to the driver and keen to do as asked - there are of course limits as most drivers have found out and a lot of maintenance is needed to keep the car in top form. With brakes and suspension alignment being top of the list on this side of the fence. The engine is strong and takes some substantial punishment, the gearbox perhaps not so much with the Achilles heal of both being cooling.

Another point worth remembering (and a reason why almost all Fiats are generally fun to drive) is that Italian drivers like to go around corners about 10-20% faster than other nation's drivers - the result is that even the base level cars are designed to do exactly that. It is very much a cultural thing and thankfully Fiat still have a design mentallity aimed very much at their domestic market - everything else is a bonus although this is largely disappearing with the latest generation of cars, perhaps the result of a drive to get back into the American market. This is perhaps rather ironic as the X1/9 was among the last models to be sold in the states previously and had a fairly substantial impact - the X1/9 inspired the American market to create the Pontiac Fiero, this in turn was copied by Toyota to create the MR2 (even down to copying the Fiero badge).

Getting back to my own reasons for having one - I got bored of the mediocre power and wanted more, the end result was a race car. While this all gone sour in the last few years it is still the reason why I stayed with it. I could have gone out and bought any ready-prepared saloon car or hatchback and had fun but the X1/9 is special in a way that the vast majority of cars available simply are not.

just to add as well it was the poormans Lancia Stratos. For me it was the looks that sold it to me in 1987... It looked fast and unique and nothing like all the other 1980 box style cars.. I like having a car that is different from all the other cars on the road.

If you put together a design for a new X1/10 then make sure it's bigger than the original. We could all do with a bit more cabin room, bigger wheels and a nice mutlivalve twin cam engine (like an alfa)

I am sure there will be lots of input from the forum on this subject. Good luck and hopefully we can see the finished design, maybe even persuade Fiat to relaunch it. We have all been waiting for it for years!

Read up and research on the Lancia MonteCarlo as well. Two cars are very heavily linked...

Lukas - not sure if they have an historical file but I've been associated with X1/9's and this club on and off for about 28 years now. I live in Coventry and around 1995 I helped another student on that very same course at Cov Uni. The X1/9 must be held (quite rightly!) in car design high esteem! Cannot remember the lads name other than he was from Northern Ireland but he came and photographed my 1300 and used it as a basis for a new X1/9 re-creation which ended up being made into a scale model. There was an evenings design event at the Uni to show off all the models which he invited me to. Happy to help out again if you'd like to view the car anytime. I'm about 10 mins bus ride from the town centre (cars off the road until spring.)