Light mauling so far ...

Thanks, all, for being gentle.

A few quick notes:

- A few of you guys are saying you hope that after driving a nice X1/9 I'll change my mind. I certainly hope not, because changing my mind would imply my ceasing to like the car! I expect any X1/9 I ride in or drive to be gorgeous, and a blast in the corners.

I really do like the X1/9, I only write about cars I honestly like or honestly dislike, and the latter are pretty well-marked.

I'll put it this way - my favorite car in the whole world (in what is obviously a very crowded field) is the 1986 Saab 900 SPG. Weird, I know. It has to be that year, it has to be gray. I haven't written about it yet, because I'm not sure how to phrase it. But I can guarantee that it will use the words "bulbous" and "finicky" - or adjectives thereof. Because that car is both of those things. I'll also use a lot of incredibly positive words. The negative stuff exists and either doesn't matter or is actively part of the appeal. The fact that the X1/9 doesn't accelerate like a muscle car or run like a Camry is part of its core identity, part of what it is. It's all part of the beauty.

Or to try this just one more way, I find perfection boring. I find inspired imperfection much more interesting. I just can't bring myself to care much about the latest supercar, but a car with real personality that I can love ... well, that's glorious. The cars I love tend to be imperfect, but they tend to be thoroughly wonderful in my eyes. That's how I see the X1/9, and most of the cars I write about. They are cars that are forgotten by the mainstream automotive press, forgotten by most enthusiasts, and remembered by the hard-core enthusiasts. That's why I'd love what you guys were doing here even if you mauled me beyond recognition. Because I'd understand it, and because by keeping these cars alive you're epitomizing what I love more than I could.

- can you name a more reliable and affordable mid-engine car of the era? Porsche 914, perhaps?

That is a stumper. I think the 914 is probably the primary competition, but it would be close. Of course, there weren't that many mid-engine cars of the era period.

- Where? When? Has it already been fed to the crusher or the tinworms? Is it too late to launch a rescue mission?

This was, erm, about two years ago, I think. It was a service station in Sturgis, SD, near the motorcycle hillclimb course. I can see the service station (a Chevron, I believe) and could probably drive you there, but I can't recall the cross streets. There was a pretty '70s Ford pickup mouldering away nearby too.

- Bernice, well-done on your response. It's completely comprehensive. Just to restate the point, though, I'm not blogging as a journalist. My post was not meant to be an authoritative history of the car, or an in-depth technical analysis - it's just fundamentally a different type of writing. What I do is write about cars that I like, and why I like them. It's my musing on cars, if you will. As I said, I'm blogging as just another idiot on the Internet with an opinion (one of millions!), and thus easily and probably profitably ignored. I do have to comment on this, though because I thought it was perhaps unintentionally funny:

"Rust, the X is much the same as similar cars of the day. I assure you any British Leyland, German, French, Italian, Detroit cars of the day rusted to similar degrees."

So ... not good, then.

I get that cars should be judged according to their context - in fact, that's a point I make in the blog all the time. I do think comparing the X to those other cars (British Leyland!) in terms of rust-proofing is a pretty entertaining left-handed compliment.

- I'm certainly not here to pick fights - as I've said, I think you guys are my people. Your opposition to my probably over-simplified piece has been well-thought-out and obviously based on greater experience with the car.

I'd like to add a link at the bottom of the post saying something like:
"Update: The fine folks at Xweb took some exception to some of the points in this post. To read their counterpoints, click here."

Would that be acceptable? We've already added a link to this site from our front page - not that you'll get a lot of traffic from us, but we like to give some props to people out there fighting the good fight as you are.