Pick A Rip Van Winkle Ride To Revive: 1976 Fiat X1/9 vs 1978 Datsun 200SX

Good morning, and happy Friday! Today, we’re going to look at a couple of sporty coupes that have been sleeping for decades. They both deserve to be brought back, though, and it will be up to you to choose which one you’d rather wake up.

Yesterday we looked at two cool wagons with frightening reputations. Lots of horror stories about both were shared, but in the end, a small majority of you felt the Jaguar was less of a risk. Its friendly-sounding Ford DNA helped its case quite a bit, from the sound of it.

I think I’d go the other way. These are both going to be high-maintenance machines, which means you had better enjoy it in between wrenching sessions. That Jaguar just doesn’t feel special enough for the potential hassles. The Audi sounds like a lot more fun.

Not all that long ago, I couldn’t understand why anyone would let a cool, fun car sit instead of driving it. But since my MGB GT ordeal, I get it. Stuff breaks, you don’t have time or money to fix it, and the car gathers dust. Next thing you know you’re paying insurance on a car that hasn’t moved under its own power in far too long, and it glares at you accusingly every time you go out to the garage, and you make the decision to move it along to someone else’s garage. My MG didn’t sit for as long as these two have, but it was still way too long. But that’s water under the bridge; let’s see which dust-gatherer you would be willing to take on.

1976 Fiat X1/9 – $8,500

Engine/drivetrain: 1.3-liter OHC inline 4, four-speed manual, RWD

Location: La Crescenta, CA

Odometer reading: 65,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives, but only recently revived

Ever wanted a mid-engined Italian sports car, styled by Marcello Gandini at Bertone, with an engine designed by Aurelio Lampredi? You’re in luck! The Fiat X1/9 has been referred to as a “baby Ferrari,” and really, that’s not too far off the mark. But instead of commanding six-figure prices, this snappy little number will set you back less than ten grand.

The X1/9’s engine, transmission, and rear suspension were all lifted straight from the front end of the Fiat 128 and plunked down behind the seats, in a move later copied by Pontiac for the Fiero. The engine is a 1.3 liter inline four, with a known propensity for high revving, like a proper Italian engine should have. It’s a good thing, too, since the transmission is only a four-speed. This car sat for thirty years, and has recently been reawakened. The carb and brakes have been gone through, and it passed a smog test, which is quite a victory. There’s still some work to do: no mention was made of new tires, and you should change the timing belt before going too far, but it’s a start.

The seller says the interior is “pristine,” but maddeningly, they don’t give us any photos of it, so I’ll have to take their word for it. If that really is the case, it’s a big deal, because soft parts like that are always the hardest things to source when fixing up an old car.

It looks great outside, refreshingly rust-free for an old Fiat. The paint has a bad spot in the middle of the hood, but the rest of it looks fine. This car does have a salvage title, from an accident back in the late ’70s, but that hardly matters now. I like that it still has the original steel wheels, too. I’m less crazy about the gigantic 5 MPH bumpers, but those can be changed out or removed entirely if you really want to.

1978 Datsun 200SX – $7,500

Engine/drivetrain: 2.0-liter OHC inline 4, five-speed manual, RWD

Location: Tucson, AZ

Odometer reading: 56,000 miles

Operational status: Has been sitting for 30 years

Nissan had a big hit on its hands in the US with the Z car, but there was room in the market for a smaller, cheaper sporty coupe. So in 1976, the Nissan Silvia coupe found its way to these shores, badged as the Datsun 200SX. This is one of those cars that has vanished almost entirely; the only place I’ve seen any for sale in the past decade is southern California, where older Japanese cars are safer from their natural enemy: rust. I saw – and if I remember right, featured – an automatic 200SX a while back, but this is the first manual I’ve seen in a long time.

Power for this funky-looking coupe comes from the same L-series four cylinder engine found in Datsun pickups of the era. It’s also the same as the Z-car engine, just with two fewer cylinders. It’s backed by a five-speed manual, which was pretty exotic and sporty for 1978. This one hasn’t been driven since 1994, when the original owner parked it for unknown reasons. The current owner has been its custodian for three years, and either hasn’t tried to revive it in that time, or hasn’t been successful. It’ll take some work on the part of the next owner to get it back on the road, unless, of course, you’d prefer to just let it sit too. (Please don’t.)

The interior is a mixed bag: the seats and door panels look good, but the dashboard is a sea of cracks and splits. Part of the steering column trim appears to be missing. And I’m not sure the front seats are original; the upholstery on them doesn’t match the back seats.

Outside, it’s about as rust-free as a ’78 Datsun gets these days. The paint is dull, but the body looks straight. The missing hubcaps are kind of a bummer; I have no idea where you’d find a set either. It’s funny – when I was a kid, I thought these cars were hideously ugly, but looking at one now, I like it. It’s certainly not like anything else on the road, then or now.

Reviving a car like this is hard work, trust me. It’s not something you want to take on unless you absolutely love the car, and even then, success is not guaranteed. But then again, I tried it with a notoriously unreliable car. Both of these would probably have been a better place to start. If you had to choose, and as always, you do, which project would you take on?