1979 Fiat X1/9 - Two Owner California/Arizona Car

Description for Fiat Other 1979

This car has a long and interesting story! The original owner had the car from 1979 until 2003. used it as a daily driver in San Francisco. CA. and maintained it absolutely fanatically (meaning that with each and every real or perceived issue the car was sent to the shop to be fixed. ) I have all original service and maintenance records from initial delivery - literally hundreds and hundreds of documents (see photos. )The car is fitted with extremely rare Koni adjustable struts and features a stainless steel coolant reservoir. In 1996. at 180. 00 miles. car had a full engine rebuild using a new factory crated short block and in early 2003. at 263. 00 miles. a $3K transmission rebuild. In August 2003 the car was a participant in the famous Concorso Italiano at Monterey. Yes. even with over a quarter of a million miles on the clock it was still a concours class car!! Simply amazing. I became the second owner in October 2003 with 266. 53 miles on the clock. buying the car from Classic Cars Ltd. in Pleasanton. CA ( http://www. classiccarsltd. com/modules/auto/detail. php?id=149 ). I drove the car from Pleasanton to Tucson. AZ. (over 800 miles) with the only problem encountered being a weak battery. I used the car as a daily driver until 2011. performing all maintenance myself. I spent many years scouring eBay and other sources for any and all parts I could find to bring the car even closer to new condition - major finds included new old stock passenger and driver side seat back covers. More minor successes included new old stock. electrical switches. uncracked glove box lid. straight speedo and tachometer needles. etc. Unfortunately. with a new job in 2011 I simply no longer had the time to devote to keeping up with everything and the car needs some TLC again - having procrastinated for over 3 years. and with mileage currently at 306. 36. I must hand over stewardship of this car to someone else. Let me list problem areas first:1) Car has an engine problem that I have not diagnosed. When last tried it would start and run but very roughly - would stall at anything below 2- 3. 00 rpm. Prior to this it was running sweetly so something failed suddenly (but no big noises!) as opposed to being a gradual wear issue. 2) There is one significant bodywork issue: the left rear fender was badly dented in a parking lot hit and run incident. I pulled out the dent as much as I could and have filled it - it looks good enough that it could be painted but given the car's fastidious history it really deserves a new fender. 3) There are a couple of minor rust issues: i) a quarter sized paint bubble on lower forward edge of driver's door. ii) a few superficial paint bubbles around windshield. The dash has two 1-2" long cracks originating from the center air vent. 4) Paint has crazing and cracks in some areas as well as some chips. 5) Vinyl on driver's seat bottom cushion is cracked (this is the only seat piece I did not find a new old stock replacement for. )6) Spare tire cover (behind passenger seat) has some wrinkles. 7) Trim panel on right hand side of center console does not fit flush (attachment pin does not engage properly. ) Everything else is pretty amazing:1) Transmission was working perfectly in all gears. forward and reverse. Using Redline transmission oil. I shift using double declutch method and with only 43K miles since rebuild I would expect only minimal wear on synchros etc. Clutch should have minimal wear also - I can make clutches last nearly for ever!2) All electrical systems. switches. headlight motors. etc. were working when last checked. 3) Bodywork is in excellent condition apart from the dent mentioned above. Lack of rust is astonishing. 4) Bumpers and trim in very good shape except for some waviness in the pieces between bumpers and body. The front front spoiler is fully intact and original (no repairs) which is very rare. 5) Apart from issues mentioned above. all interior fittings are in very good or excellent condition. Some fading to carpet but only noticeable when mats removed - no noticeable wear and heal pad is perfect. My sincerest hope is for this car to be acquired by someone with the necessary skills and resources to put it back into concours condition as it so clearly deserves. I would be more than happy to answer any questions for you. Thank you for your interest. The seller reserves the right to end this auction at anytime if car is sold locally