yeah, as i've said before...

i'm not a FIAT fan especially, i'm a mid-engine italian sportscar fan first, and irrespective of price, the X1/9 is in my top 10 all-time desirable cars list.

over the last couple years i've come to really like the 124/131 and a couple of the other X contemporaries.  here in oz we didn't get much fiat stuff from the late 80's onward, but browsing other fiat-based forums where people spend their time rubbing the chrome on their front-wheel-drive econoboxes with some strange "iquento" or whatever in the name just seems a bit sad, and i'm glad we didn't get them, we have enough korean cars which look much the same.

so overall i don't think of the X as a fiat, but just as an X... except when i'm looking for spare parts.

i don't care what fiat DON'T do, but one thing i'm fairly vocal about - at least in my own head - is the tarnishing of a memory for financial reasons.  hell, i was really annoyed when i saw a frickin holden astra - one of THE most boring fwd econoboxes EVER - sporting a Bertone badge and a $50k price tag.  it's STILL a fwd econobox, and it's STILL ugly and boring, but now it's gone down in the history books as "penned by bertone", next to many lambo's, ferrari's, and our beloved X.

for reference, here's a Bertone Astra, just a mercedes rip-off... look between the door handle and wheel and you can just see the shining "b".

 

i'm quite fond of the X1/9, please fiat, don't bastardize it's memory for the sake of some filthy lucre.