Fiat X1/9

The Fiat X1/9 came about to replace the Fiat 850 Spider and become a real symbol of the Seventies. Built on the Fiat 128 base, but with an entirely innovative feature for a Fiat car: a centrally-mounted engine. Nuccio Bertone pressed Fiat management to accept this very sporty solution, and eventually managed to convince them. The Fiat X1/9 reworked the Runabout concept, an innovative Bertone design inspired by the wedge shape of racing speed boats. Designed by Marcello Gandini, the Fiat X1/9 is the natural continuation of this concept, with its penetrative wedge shape. The two ridges running along the wings lighten the overall look, and the low bonnet features disappearing headlights, while the rear is cut off. But the most interesting aspect lies in the design of the cockpit, framed by the light front pillar and the rear pillar which functions as a roll-bar. With the hard-top down, the X1/9 goes from coupé to spider, and the targa top folds away and stows into a front compartment above the luggage. The chassis, derived from the Stratos chassis, is a supporting structure which is particularly robust and safe enough to pass the new safety tests which were about to be introduced in the States. The first version had a 74 Hp 1290 cc. engine (170 km/h), then in 1978 an 85 Hp 1498 cc. engine (176 km/h) was introduced. The Fiat X1/9 debuted at the Turin Motor Show in November 1972, immediately earning critical acclaim. Emerson Fittipaldi, who test-drove it for the magazine Quattroruote, wrote that the X1/9 drives like a Formula One car. But just before that 1972 debut—an unexpected twist unfolded. At the 1971 Turin Motor Show, a full year before Fiat revealed the X1/9, Alejandro De Tomaso unveiled the De Tomaso 1600 Spider, a car that bore a suspiciously strong resemblance to Bertone’s upcoming mid-engined Fiat. As revealed decades later by designer Tom Tjaarda, De Tomaso had stumbled upon the still-secret prototype at a shared supplier’s warehouse—and brazenly ordered a copy to be made in-house at Ghia. The resulting car, presented under the De Tomaso badge, triggered murmurs of industrial espionage and stunned the Italian automotive world. Though the scandal quietly faded, its echoes remained. In hindsight, the incident was another chapter in the colorful, controversial story of De Tomaso—a man not unfamiliar with pushing boundaries, both in design and in ethics. Despite the drama, the Fiat X1/9 enjoyed a long and successful run. From 1972 to 1988, over 160,000 units were produced—first by Bertone for Fiat, and later by Bertone independently. A wedge of the future, wrapped in Italian flair.