I'll second this about X1/9 fiats.  I rebuilt 2 of these years ago.  Both
owners agreed that they are  junk.

David M wrote:

>Years ago I had a Fiat X1/9, the dealer also handled
>Alfa Romeo and Maserati.
>Italian cars are fickle and fragile. Parts wear out
>and break easily. The window handles on my Fiat all
>broke off on the first frosty morning when the windows
>froze closed. The engine compartment cover was
>carefully designed to deposit water directly on the
>distributor. The stitching on the seats all failed at
>the same time  leaving the component parts floating on
>the seats. Parts cost a FORTUNE and if not in stock
>take a long time to get. Mechanics and parts are hard
>to find, if you can find them at all. A large
>percentage of the Alfa is Fiat parts.
>Now buy it and weep...
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>>Date:    Fri, 9 Jun 2006 22:49:21 -0500
>>From:    Jeff Palmer <jpalmer@MTS.NET>
>>Subject: alfa romeo (friday friday friday)
>>
>>Evening ladies and gents,
>>
>>My good friend has suddenly fallen in love with a
>>1990 Alfa Romeo
>>convertible (Spider I think is the model).  65,000
>>miles.  I did a
>>little googling but didn't come up with a whole lot
>>of information.
>>Does anybody have any experience, maintenance wise
>>etc. with this
>>model?  I feel partly responsible as I dragged him
>>over to see it so
>>i don't want him to get in over his head.
>>
>>Thanks as always
>>Jeff
>>
>>85 Westfalia GL (with great new springs from
>>Busdepot)
>>
>>------------------------------
>>
>>End of vanagon Digest - 9 Jun 2006 (#2006-484)
>>**********************************************
>>
>>
>>
>
>
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