Re-joining the X club

wildcat_lgf

wildcat_lgf

Low Mileage
After many years of not owning an X, it looks like I'll be rejoining the faithful few.

A 78 serie speciale was my first car about 18 years ago, and I've had a couple since then. I kept in touch with the guy who bought my last X and recently caught up with him.
He agreed to sell me the green on e in the middle - but freight between our north and south islands pretty much doubles the price.

Maybe it's a sentimental buy - but I wanted a serie speciale again, and a project - and it's definitely a project! Been sitting for at least 5yrs it's it's current location.

Anyway - hopefully I haven't overpaid, but am looking forward to getting it home...now just need to work out the freight details.

f0b1d2860922f5571cf96967233e5f3b.jpg


For interest,
The green one is a 78 serie speciale
The blue one on the left I didn't pay much attention too - it's been dropped off a forklift, and is pretty rough.
The red one is a US lhd car.
Both other ones at the front have had frontal incidents of some kind.

Cheers


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Welcome home

Welcome home wildcat!

There is only one test to see if you have overspent. Get the car back into the shape you desire. Now roll the windows down, take the targa top off and put a few miles on it down a twisty road listening to the Lampredi sing.

Time for the test. Look in the rear view mirror. If your face looks like this -> :D then you didn't overspend.

“Remember that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination.”

― Roy Goodman
Click to expand...

Roy must have owned an X1/9. ;)
 
I like the idea of the green 78 serie speciale! Good luck with the the project. I'm looking forward to seeing many pictures. I too have a 78 serie speciale... I think.


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Traffic gridlock in the tunnel

Very cool photo! What kind of building is that? Congratulations on the buy, I'd have a green one too when I get around to buying one. Gotta finish the Scorpion first...
 
Thanks for the well-wishes everyone.
The X's are currently on an onion farm, the building is a half-round plastic flexible plastic tunnel basically.

I'm sure once I get it home and start working on it i won't regret it :)


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About 7 years ago I sold my previous X - the thread is here:
http://t124.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4274

My big regret is actually cutting that car up to put the dallara kit - in retrospect I should've done a simple resto-mod to the body and kept the Uno Turbo engine. I was young and foolish.

So I kept in touch with the buyer over the past few years - and only just recently have managed to get to a position where my wife will allow me another project (and the mortgage/time/etc allows). So I went to see him, and un-be-known to me he has 9 X's. Only these 6 are in storage here at the farm, the other 3 are at his house. While I was originally wanting to buy my own X back again, he wants good money for it - and I'm a bit nervous because he says he hasn't touched it at all since he got it! It was under-cover and raining so I couldn't see what it looked like up-close.

So the next best alternative is a similar X that I can keep near original.

The other 2 X's - one he is getting road-worthy for his wife, the other is a Uno Turbo project of his that is supposedly nearly road-worthy. His main interest is an AC Cobra replica he is working on, and I suspect he isn't actually that partial to the X1/9 model at all. If I could get decent transport I'd buy the green one, yellow one, and red lhd (don't ask me why - I just liked it). But at $1k for freight each - its probably more than they're worth.
 
Last edited:
wildcat_lgf said:
About 7 years ago I sold my previous X - the thread is here:
http://t124.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4274

My big regret is actually cutting that car up to put the dallara kit - in retrospect I should've done a simple resto-mod to the body and kept the Uno Turbo engine. I was young and foolish.

So I kept in touch with the buyer over the past few years - and only just recently have managed to get to a position where my wife will allow me another project (and the mortgage/time/etc allows). So I went to see him, and un-be-known to me he has 9 X's. Only these 6 are in storage here at the farm, the other 3 are at his house. While I was originally wanting to buy my own X back again, he wants good money for it - and I'm a bit nervous because he says he hasn't touched it at all since he got it! It was under-cover and raining so I couldn't see what it looked like up-close.

So the next best alternative is a similar X that I can keep near original.

The other 2 X's - one he is getting road-worthy for his wife, the other is a Uno Turbo project of his that is supposedly nearly road-worthy. His main interest is an AC Cobra replica he is working on, and I suspect he isn't actually that partial to the X1/9 model at all. If I could get decent transport I'd buy the green one, yellow one, and red lhd (don't ask me why - I just liked it). But at $1k for freight each - its probably more than they're worth.
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dont feel bad i had to sell mine with the body kit too , few years after i got a better x paid 1k for shipping ,paid 3k for the body kit to get it shipped from italy and that project just keeps on costing !
 
It's been a few weeks now - so I thought I should give a bit of an update...

The X has finally arrived at home now - having managed to get it the 800km from it's previous home.

We managed to get it running after a few hours, got the brakes and clutch bled, and away she went...

The only issue (thus far), is that the battery light comes on and the battery doesn't get any charge. We spent about 4hours trouble-shooting the issue (power going in to the alternator, but not out), and took the alternator out, apart, and put it back in - with no success.
Then we had an epiphany that we would try bypassing the voltage regulator, which worked and the battery gets full charge now. So a new voltage regulator is in order I feel.

Anyway, she's parked up in the garage now - and I'm deciding what to tackle first. I need to stop the spread of any rust fairly quickly, and then will probably move to getting the doors/windows adjusted so they open/close properly.

Here's some pics.








 
Wow, love to know where that barn is! Is he interested in selling off parts or wanting to keep these cars whole?
 
Rodgher said:
Wow, love to know where that barn is! Is he interested in selling off parts or wanting to keep these cars whole?
Click to expand...

He's an interesting character - and very unreliable at replying or answering calls/txt/emails...it seems to be mainly because he is busy working long hours/most days. He was planning to keep them I believe, but given he hasn't touched the one I sold him 8 years ago - I doubt he'll get around to working on them.

I ended up having to pay a little more for the car, as our recollection of what price we agreed on differed by a couple hundred $'s.
He pulled the car out of the shed and stood over us for 4-5hours while we worked on it to get it going (in the rain)...hardly said a word.

I was just grateful we got it running and I've now got anther X project :)
 
Welcome Wildcat...

Ian Lawson Is at the south end of the North Isle near Wellington on the Kapiti Coast.

(Try and stay as far away from him as possible.)

If you do run into him... he owes me $20 bucks and if you collect it, I'll split it with ya~!

Welcome again... and keep in touch on at least a weekly basis!
 
Black-Tooth said:
Ian Lawson Is at the south end of the North Isle near Wellington on the Kapiti Coast.

(Try and stay as far away from him as possible.)

If you do run into him... he owes me $20 bucks and if you collect it, I'll split it with ya~!

Welcome again... and keep in touch on at least a weekly basis!
Click to expand...

Cheers Tony,
Wish I had known a couple years ago...I spent about 12months flying down to the Kapiti Coast each week to work on the design for the new expressway roading project in his area. It would've been good to meet another X enthusiast.

After such a crazy road-trip and fiasco getting the X, I was talking with a friend who casually says "we've got an old fiat sitting in the factory at work - looks like an old Toyota MR2". Funnily enough he works about 1km from my home, and he sent me this picture!

I'm not sure yet if the owner is interested in selling it...but it would've been a quicker and easier trip!

 
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