I, perhaps foolishly, have agreed to purchase a '78 Fiat X1/9. While parked in
my driveway, it has tried hard to fit in by leaking gearbox oil on the driveway
and requiring maintenance. ( MC / clutch and the passenger window fell out of
it's bottom channel when my daughter cranked it too hard. :( )
It was my brother's hobby car that he had purchased last fall, with the
intention of working on this spring. I had offered to sell it for his widow
and, as my family got drives in it, they each asked if we could keep it. I had
fought with myself about whether I wanted it or not. I, of course, can't
afford it, and answered that way. My expenses have gone up and my income has
gone down. To cut the whining short, when my wife said, "let's find a way to
buy it", I was pretty much sold, even though it didn't seem wise. ( When has
that ever stopped me? :) But, she didn't finalize that, so I was proceeding to
attempt to offer it for sale. I entered it into our local Italian week parade
and show. I was, as usual, behind in everything, and rushing like mad the
morning of the show, to put some wax on it. It was damp out and I was getting
swirls and not feeling good about it. Then, running late to get there ( a ten
minute drive ), I fired it up and proceeded to the end of th!
e driveway, where it stalled, multiple times. It had never done that before.
I figured after it warmed up, all would be well, so I proceeded. It stalled at
every light and stop sign and almost every time I shifted up to third. It
brought a picture to my mind of what my aging dog did to me last summer. She
was my jogging partner and one hot day she dug in her heels after half a block,
and looked at me like she was saying "You can forget it, I'm not going." So,
at about the fifteenth stall, I pulled over, got out he cell, and called my
sister-in-law and agreed to purchase the car. Then I called the parade
organizer and said I couldn't make it. He encouraged me to drive the extra 2
blocks, which I did. While there, I met one other X1/9 owner who had converted
to Fiero V6 power when he restored his car from the parts of a '78 and a '79.
I told him about mine and he told me about his parts supply from the left
overs. Bingo!
Anyway, for those that are interested, there's a picture of the unwaxed car
here:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/robertduquette/temp/Bob0152.jpg
The car was safety inspected last fall and will have to go through another to
transfer the title. I'll bring it to the local specialists, as it has to be
safe for my son to drive.
The black soot on the garage door is Miss Marple's. Gotta wipe that off some
day . . .
Robert D.
( At least one car too many. Or is it that I'm one parking spot short? )
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