Friday 10th October 2008

Fiat X1/9 Off-Roader

Mid-engined monster trucks are all the rage in Tennessee...

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BMW may have claimed to be one of the first to produce a coupe SUV with its X6, but we now have proof that Fiat was way ahead of the game. Ladies and gentlemen, here we have the X1/9 monster truck, the original off-road sports car.

Criticism aimed at the X1/9 may have ranged from dodgy electrics to crumbling bodywork but few people have ever argued that ground clearance was a major issue. It clearly is in parts of Tennessee however, where rednecks have dropped the lifeless corpse of an X1/9 onto the shortened frame of a Ford F350 truck, complete with 351 V8 engine.

The car’s owner says it’s a ‘real head turner’ but I wouldn’t give it a second look if it parked up outside Tesco.

 

eBay link here

[3Dom]

What a pointless heap of s**t! I love the X/19 and the Ford F350 is pretty cool too, but not together! Where would someone get such a ludicrous idea from! It just looks a complete mess, tbh I can't really think of a car that would look worse as a monster truck than an X/19!

Why?!

[lankyarcher]

Run faster...... I hear Banjo's...........

Have you seen the gearstick? Obviously a perfectionist at work..... Jesus......

Edited by lankyarcher on Friday 10th October 11:15

[hill79]

what the hell is going on with this gear stick?



does that have some use I'm completely failing to see?

[Oli S]

hill79 said:

what the hell is going on with this gear stick?



does that have some use I'm completely failing to see?

That is ridiculous!

[Jesus Christ]

That is not sooo bad.

It is not mid engined either.

Edited by Jesus Christ on Friday 10th October 11:46

[Chris71]

What? Somebody's X1/9 wasn't rusting quickly enough with normal road use?!

[dinkel]

What is this racket doing on our beloved website?

I mean: the N74 V12 is the kinda news we like on a friday afternoon right?

[Dizi]

hill79 said:

what the hell is going on with this gear stick?



does that have some use I'm completely failing to see?

[XitUp]

I like it...better than just letting the Fiat rust into the ground like the rest of them.

[Fetchez la vache]

Good!

We don't see enough (any!) of them on our roads anymore..

Rather have one of those than an X6
(Just... well, ok then..)

[RichardR]

I know the 'monster truck' style normally sees the arches nowhere near the wheels, but they are generally at least above the wheels! Because of the relative widths of the two, there's absolutely no relationship between the body and the chassis apart from the fact that one happens to have been plonked on top of the other!

I think this is the most flattering shot...



...because it shows the least of the abomination!!

[Bollah]

i'd rather have this X1/9

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=d816aSB85Z0

Can't find the other video of it competing in some drag races around Israel

[TIGA84]

stheap.

[dpbird90]

Oh dear, just why did they have to butcher the X1/9? I usually love Fiats but typical Yanks, with their "I've got a bigger one" attitude. And that gearstick is hideous.

If you're going to modify an X1/9, keep it looking bog standard but shoehorn a Ferrari Dino V6 in there and bump up the power. Then you have a true world beater.

[InRong Ghia]

And you can tell how much they wanted it to turn heads by the hideous grey colour that they have left it...

[CanAm]

It just looks like an X1/9 being carried on a trailer. Way back in the late 1970s (?) there was a rally car in the UK called the Strange Rover, which IIRC was a TR7 body mounted on a Range Rover chassis that actually looked quite reasonable, unlike this abomination.

[JonRB]

I'd say that it doesn't so much turn heads as stomachs.

[jmatras]

Oh, Brits have no sense of humor. Must be because of they used it all up spelling it "humour." Anyway, so look, this guy has what's left of an F-350 and a junkyard X1/9, a cutting torch and he knows how to weld. Add a couple of weekends, a few buddies and a case of Bud Light. Can you really think he's serious? That's why there's that silly Ed Roth/Rat Fink shifter.

And the reason it's not painted is that no one could find the brush after they finished crushing the empties against their foreheads.

[B10]

Perhaps this could be a way reducing one's road tax i the UK. Buy a new SUV / off roader, remove body, add pre 1971 shell, tax as the pre-1971 car. Bob's your uncle...no road tax. Just imagine all those Morris Minor Cayennes trolling up the Kings Road.

For those who not aware there is no raod tax for pre- 71 vehicle in the UK

[JonRB]

jmatras said:

Oh, Brits have no sense of humor. Must be because of they used it all up spelling it "humour."

We have no sense of humour because we spell a word the same way as it has always been spelt, dating back to way before America was even discovered? Okaaaay. Thanks for that.