Future X value?

According to Sports Car Market magazine

In the july issue of the aforementioned mag, a RHD '83 X1/9 with 2300 miles sold at the auction at Silverstone (UK) for over 30K. All original, no rust. The reporter's comment on the price was "why pay 10 times what a car is worth?" and "Does not compute".
:italia:
 
I think it will be like muscle cars. As time goes on, only a true survivor (original paint, as it came from the factory) will be most sought after.
 
jasco said:
In the july issue of the aforementioned mag, a RHD '83 X1/9 with 2300 miles sold at the auction at Silverstone (UK) for over 30K. All original, no rust. The reporter's comment on the price was "why pay 10 times what a car is worth?" and "Does not compute".
:italia:
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I presume that was 30K USD?

A perfect low mileage X1/9 should be expected to sell for appreciably more than $3K, so the "10 times" comment isn't right... but it's still 2x or 3x past what a really great X would go for in the US.

Are Fiat prices in Europe higher than in the US? There's less of the "Fix It Again Tony" baggage to carry around and the marque is better known. It's also worth noting that Ferrari 308 prices are higher in Europe, which creates more headroom for the X.
 
jasco said:
RHD '83 X1/9 with 2300 miles sold at the auction at Silverstone (UK) for over 30K.
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I've never understood the point of a paying a premium for a low-mileage car unless it's collectable and historically significant in its own right. If you drive it it's no longer a low-mileage car and your premium evaporates, and if you don't drive it all you can do is hope that someday somebody else will pay even more for it.
 
values...

it will be interesting to watch for sure. Before picking up my latest X I had been watching values for approx. 10 years and they did not seem to go up. Just last night I was looking online at Fiat Spiders, Triumphs and MGs. Really well restored examples are pushing over 20K, at least here in Canada. Not sure if they're going to get those prices but there are plenty of examples for sale over 20K. The X being such a low production car should increase in value due to its rarity, but you never know. I guess as we start selling them, we need to start asking more for them and over time they will go up in value. When I started looking in the spring, I never really thought $2,500 would buy you something that even ran, but you can often pick up a decent car for that kind of money. $5K usually gets you a nice one, 10K an amazing one. As many of us are north of $10K into the cars, it sure would be nice to see the value go up over time. Anybody with a rebuilt motor and a few upgrades is into the engine for likely $5K, especially if you had to pay someone to do it. I guess, time will tell..... Come on $20K!!!
 
I agree. I'm all about the driving! Bought my X with 53K in 2011 and I just turned 85K last week. I love it! And with proper maintenance, there is no reason to just keep going.
 
WildWilly, I agree

I have been noticing for some time the Spider, Triumph, and MGB thing going into the 20Ks. It is insane when a nice X barely pushed 6K. After the TC, TD, Healey, and MGA I lost interest in small sports cars until the 79 X came out. The front-engined roadsters in particular seemed to turn into little square boxes with wheels, but no styling excitement. The X was something radical and new, and foreward thinking. Then the designers regressed to long nosed roadstes again. Incredible.
 
I've felt there are three basic categories of car buyers - consumers, enthusiasts (racers are a niche in this category), and collectors.

Our X1/9s have been a draw for the enthusiasts crowd right from the start, panned by the consumers (Fix It Again Tony comments), and haven't caught the eye of the collectors (Jay Leno's comment about the "X nineteen"). Yet.

I have a 1963 Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider that I bought in 1974 for $400. It was my first car and an awesome one for a high school junior. It was eleven years old when I bought it, there were several in wrecking yards during that time (cheap spares!), I could still get new OEM parts from the local dealer, and no one really thought much about these cars. They were a rough, early, mass produced convertible sports car and common enough to be ignorable except to enthusiasts.

The Giulietta and Giulia series cars are Alfa Romeo's first mass produced post-WW2 cars. They were manufactured from the mid 1950's to the mid 1960's and representative of Italian assembly line manufacturing during that time.

Years passed and I garaged the car for something more practical as college and career took precedent. It was primer grey with a blown head gasket and rough interior. Maybe I could fix it up one day.

Over the years, the collectors began to notice the unique things about these cars - roll up windows (compared to the side curtained British cars of the time), DOHC aluminum cross-flow engine, 4-2-1 factory exhaust, handling, etc.. The prices began to climb as the features became better known.

Today, a rough, rusty, not-enirely-complete example can fetch $20k as is and a decent restoration brings in mid-to-high five figures. A full and proper (over) restoration puts these cars into the low $100k range. There is a thriving cottage industry that locates, cross-references, and reproduces quality replacement parts. I can often find parts for my 1963 Alfa easier than I can find parts for my 1977 Alfa. The collectors have indeed found the Alfa Giulia and Giulietta cars.

For the last 15 years I have belonged to a forum dedicated to the Giulietta/Giulia cars. Over that time I've seen the forum membership slowly move from enthusiast owners trying to piece together their cars to collectors trying to locate "matching numbers" so they can finish their beauty and get it to market and fetch the highest sale price. The change in prices directly corresponds to the entrance of the collector crowd.

The X1/9 is still a solid enthusiast's car, at the moment. The collectors will find them at some point, they always do. The only question is when the X will be discovered by the collectors.
 
mid79 said:
The X1/9 is still a solid enthusiast's car, at the moment. The collectors will find them at some point, they always do. The only question is when the X will be discovered by the collectors.
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Not every car makes the transition from enthusiast to collectable. The Honda CRX comes to mind, as does the Toyota MR2. It's never been clear to me why some cars have what it takes to make that transition and others don't, and not knowing that I don't know whether the X1/9 has what it takes.

(There are also cars that make it to the collectable stage without passing through the enthusiast stage - the Edsel and the VW beetle for example).
 
The creator of the comic Ziggy must be lurking on this thread….

This just in the papers this morning. Certainly seems to echo a frequent sentiment.

 
I remember about 15 years ago you could get decent X1/9s for under $2k around here. Now, that number seems more like $4k +/- . I think prices will go up but we are talking "penny stocks" here. So, even doubling in value over 10 years will probably not cover the expense to keep the car that long.

Most "enthusiast" cars will maintain demand going into the future. They don't necessarily have to have been prohibitively expensive when new. Its best to buy then when they hit the low end of the depreciation curve when they are about 5-8 years old.... that's the easy part. The hard part is knowing how long it will linger at rock bottom before picking up.

I've had clean MkI VW GTI's , Scirocco 16V, Corrado VR6, Cabriolets, BMW E30, Pontiac Formulas, Trans Ams, Porsche 968, Chevy Vega, etc. etc. etc. Many were bought by me on the low end and sold too soon. I generally keep them for a few years (kept the 968 for 12 years thought) and sell them for what I paid or maybe a little more.

If I kept the original GTI instead of selling it for $800 in the mid-1990's it would be worth about $5k now. This is assuming I was able to keep it clean and rust free. But, I'd spend thousands on maintenance and repairs and probably miss out on opportunities to own other exiting cars.
 
true value

truly, from this perspective, it's not what the car is worth in the future.... it's what it's WORTH to you right now, right here!
if you want to invest in a car to make bank down the road, start searching barns and backyards. I still have the 68 Z2/8 I bought in 76.
guy came down from Washington state with a cashiers check for 10 grand wanting it. I said naaa, the numbers don't match anymore and I built for me and the way I drive, not you. he was kinda pissed, and I still have it. people who see it beg me to sell it to them..............naaaa
really, would you sell your children??
mikemo90*aol.com
 
fiat

fiat doesn't mean "fix it again tony"
it means F##KING INCREDABLE AROUND TURNS!!!!!!!!!!!
nuff said:headbang:
mikemo90*aol.com
 
Imagine for a moment...

If FIAT took the American car market very seriously back in the day, designed and built cars specifically for the American market to suite American's taste and expectations of what a car should be.

Then, race then in ways that made them always win and in nearly every event they entered (tug the proper race organization political stings will get this done).

Design and built each FIAT car for America into the over sized transportation appliance that never needed any servicing, always ran, never upset it's driver-owner..

This would have completely altered the motoring public's belief, image and faith in what is a FIAT car.. In the same light, it would no longer be a FIAT..

This is the power of marketing, market inertia and brand identity. Often, these factors do not reflect the actual content of the product.



Bernice
 
Guys... Really.. These are fun and neat cars... I really don't see them pushing the RM auction block any time soon. Drive the hell out of them, Have fun. If you have one now and maintain it you will likely not loose money.. But that's probably about it. Maybe gain 5-10%...

If you are looking for an investment, you are probably in the wrong place.. Maybe in 2030 or beyond..

IMO the only reason for the price increase over the last 10 years is because of the lack of buying power not an increase in value.

No one can be certain, but it would sure be a shame to sit your X in the Garage hoping for a gold mine when you could be enjoying the hell out of it. Your chances in Vegas are just a good...

Anyways... We all have opinions right...
 
You don't buy an X as an investment.

You buy it for the pleasure of driving a FIAT (someone else called it Friggin' Incredible Around Turns). As many others have posted, the values of these will show modest value increase, but not make you rich. If you want a relatively "safe" investment with a relatively predictable long-term return, buy a Vanguard S&P 500 index mutual fund.

Mike
 
I agree with Aircavscout ..

I absolutely love my X , it was the car I would draw constantly whilst I was in my art history class in collage . I had an '84 VW GTI at the time and fantasized about putting my mighty (90 HP ) engine in an X ,
fast forward 30 years and I have my dream car .

I had a '92 Alfa Spider for 7 years - I loved the car and through that car was introduced to a great group of Alfisti , we had many fun times . .but after attending the FFO last year and seeing the X's my passion was rekindled
Enter the X purchase for $2,800 - put about 10k in (paint, parts, body work etc) and it is amazing - I do not miss the Spider at all


Spider ownership is not an investment either . I paid $12,500 for the car and ended up putting another 12k in over the 7 years of ownership. It was well sorted , yet not exactly where I wanted it .
I sold it for $11,300 and was happy to get that , as there are 20-30 spiders for sale at any given moment. The X is such a technically advanced car for its age - it is night and day compared to the Spider



I think if you come into this hobby expecting to make $$$$ you will be disappointed :wall:
so the moral is enjoy the car , drive it as they were meant to be driven - they are not an investment that will pay dividends monetarily that is , they exist for pure enjoyment .


drive , enjoy
FORZA FIAT !



 
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