The iconic Italian automotive design house Bertone was founded in 1912. The X1/9 started life as the Bertone designed Autobianchi A112 Runabout concept car (image #11) created by Bertone's Chief Designer Marcello Gandini in 1969 and was produced from 1974 through 1988. After a long hiatus since it was discontinued, Bertone announced an X1/9 successor planned for 2026, the ~$500,000 460bhp Bertone Runabout. In addition to designing and building the X1/9, Bertone has designed some of the most beautiful automobiles ever built (image #10), including the Lamborghini Countach - made famous by the 1981 movie, "Cannonball Run" (image #12), the Lamborghini Miura - the 1st mid-engined supercar, the Lancia Stratos (image #13), and many more. Bertone has recently introduced the $2.16 million 1,109bhp twin-turbo V10-engined hypercar, the Bertone GB110.
The X1/9 is often thought of as a “baby Ferrari” based on the fact that Ferrari was majority owned by Fiat during the years the X1/9 was made, the engine was designed by famed Ferrari engine designer Aurelio Lampredi, as well its similarity with its contemporary corporate cousin the Ferrari 308 (image #7) which was produced during the same time period (1975-85) and also under Fiat ownership. The 308 gained household recognition thanks to a starring role in television’s 1980's series “Magnum, P.I.,” starring Tom Selleck (image #6). While the 308 garnered magazine covers and headlines, the X1/9 gobbled up racing trophies at an alarming rate. The mid-engine Fiat only needed a little tweaking under the hood to become a staple of amateur motorsports accumulating more than 30 SCCA autocross national championships and numerous road racing crowns in it's heyday.
As of the fall of 2018, it was estimated that only 1,034 X1/9's were still registered in the US making them increasing very rare automobiles...
