Rupunzell
Bernice Loui
Modern production of an X1/9 will or could NEVER happen due to the sheer number of legal and government requirements the original design could never meet and this has ZERO to do with crash-safety requirements.
Back even a decade ago the diameter of the volume knob on passenger vehicles have been regulated to a maximum diameter, that is just the tip of the iceberg.
As for brittle bolts-screws-hardware on that Honda, that is horse pucky. Items like that can be replaced with much improved. More at issues is the overall condition of the other oily bits. Mileage is an awful metric of a motor vehicle's actual content, reliability, durability, design and engineering. As an example, Toyota & Honda have an excellent and pristine market reputation for durability reliability and all those market expected features, then folks deceived by this myth take their fave Toyota, Honda or similar fave street ride to race at 24 Hours of LeMons to discover how absolutely AWFUL and poorly suited these car are for being driven near or at their design limit. It is always a very RUDE awakening for all involved. And no, seen mostly new production cars raced at LeMons with explosive results in short time.
Consider the sheer amount of electronics and techno widgets in the current new production motor vehicle. Everything from mobile device connectivity, software driven on a data buss for each and every hardware item including door locks to engine management and much more. That is a HUGE amount of stuff to go side-ways. All operated by encrypted brand specific software that is designed to prevent user tampering. This has happened due to legal and many other requirements forced upon the modern motor vehicle today.
As for performance, what does this really mean? Acceleration, cornering grip, chassis dynamics or ? The most common complain or want with exxe owners is more power... I'm not convinced the modern otto cycle engine is more enjoyable when compared to a properly set up Lampredi SOHC used as OE in the exxe. More appreciation of this can be had once an exxe with a properly set up chassis is driven with a properly set up Lampredi SOHC engine driven at no less than 5,000 RPM for a few hours. Now ponder where can the exxe be driven this way and how the vast majority of "high performance" car owners drive their pride and joy?
The modern street or public road driven motor vehicle will remain mostly if not entirely mechanically grip limited for cornering force capability. This puts an absolute limit on the amount of cornering grip possible to just over 1G. To achieve more requires significant to serious aero assist which is NOT going to happen on ANY public road legal driven vehicle. This means tires and suspension-chassis design has matured decades ago. Beyond the paper specification numbers that works great for marketing and arm chair gear heads, that metric tells little to ZERO about the actual driving experience. What is reality, the exxe is NOT for the masses. Few want a light weight, excellent mid engine chassis that is delivered under powered. In many ways what is best about the exxe is the complete opposite of what the majority of the current motor car buyer wants and the car brands know this. It is why there are so few small low cost mid engine cars on the market today.
Replacement parts offered for the exxe is directly related to it's market value and desirability. Given it's history, the chances of the exxe becoming a highly desirable collectable with equally high market value is extremely unlikely to happen for a host of reasons. It is also why few high quality reproduction replacement parts are available for the exxe. It all comes down to, "Why should said exxe owner spend $1000 on a engine when the entire car is only worth $600?" Compare that with any of the desirable collectables where dropping $1000 on a plastic tail light lens is more than reasonable.
As for comparing the exxe to the Alfa Romeo 4C, Lotus Elise and similar. In many ways, the exxe is similar but still different. It really comes down to what is expected or wanted by the drivers-owners from their ride. What is fact, there are few small mid-engine car available that can offer the raw and direct driving experience the exxe can offer. No power steering, no brake assist, excellent chassis-suspension, modest weight, a better power train than most ever realize all set up originally by folks who understood how a proper mid-engine chassis must behave and feel like.
Bernice
Back even a decade ago the diameter of the volume knob on passenger vehicles have been regulated to a maximum diameter, that is just the tip of the iceberg.
As for brittle bolts-screws-hardware on that Honda, that is horse pucky. Items like that can be replaced with much improved. More at issues is the overall condition of the other oily bits. Mileage is an awful metric of a motor vehicle's actual content, reliability, durability, design and engineering. As an example, Toyota & Honda have an excellent and pristine market reputation for durability reliability and all those market expected features, then folks deceived by this myth take their fave Toyota, Honda or similar fave street ride to race at 24 Hours of LeMons to discover how absolutely AWFUL and poorly suited these car are for being driven near or at their design limit. It is always a very RUDE awakening for all involved. And no, seen mostly new production cars raced at LeMons with explosive results in short time.
Consider the sheer amount of electronics and techno widgets in the current new production motor vehicle. Everything from mobile device connectivity, software driven on a data buss for each and every hardware item including door locks to engine management and much more. That is a HUGE amount of stuff to go side-ways. All operated by encrypted brand specific software that is designed to prevent user tampering. This has happened due to legal and many other requirements forced upon the modern motor vehicle today.
As for performance, what does this really mean? Acceleration, cornering grip, chassis dynamics or ? The most common complain or want with exxe owners is more power... I'm not convinced the modern otto cycle engine is more enjoyable when compared to a properly set up Lampredi SOHC used as OE in the exxe. More appreciation of this can be had once an exxe with a properly set up chassis is driven with a properly set up Lampredi SOHC engine driven at no less than 5,000 RPM for a few hours. Now ponder where can the exxe be driven this way and how the vast majority of "high performance" car owners drive their pride and joy?
The modern street or public road driven motor vehicle will remain mostly if not entirely mechanically grip limited for cornering force capability. This puts an absolute limit on the amount of cornering grip possible to just over 1G. To achieve more requires significant to serious aero assist which is NOT going to happen on ANY public road legal driven vehicle. This means tires and suspension-chassis design has matured decades ago. Beyond the paper specification numbers that works great for marketing and arm chair gear heads, that metric tells little to ZERO about the actual driving experience. What is reality, the exxe is NOT for the masses. Few want a light weight, excellent mid engine chassis that is delivered under powered. In many ways what is best about the exxe is the complete opposite of what the majority of the current motor car buyer wants and the car brands know this. It is why there are so few small low cost mid engine cars on the market today.
Replacement parts offered for the exxe is directly related to it's market value and desirability. Given it's history, the chances of the exxe becoming a highly desirable collectable with equally high market value is extremely unlikely to happen for a host of reasons. It is also why few high quality reproduction replacement parts are available for the exxe. It all comes down to, "Why should said exxe owner spend $1000 on a engine when the entire car is only worth $600?" Compare that with any of the desirable collectables where dropping $1000 on a plastic tail light lens is more than reasonable.
As for comparing the exxe to the Alfa Romeo 4C, Lotus Elise and similar. In many ways, the exxe is similar but still different. It really comes down to what is expected or wanted by the drivers-owners from their ride. What is fact, there are few small mid-engine car available that can offer the raw and direct driving experience the exxe can offer. No power steering, no brake assist, excellent chassis-suspension, modest weight, a better power train than most ever realize all set up originally by folks who understood how a proper mid-engine chassis must behave and feel like.
Bernice
