A beautifully designed & detailed sportscar (esp. in original prettier 1300cc guise) with a superb chassis that really just needed an additional 30hp (& the later 5th gear) to overcome the major criticisms. But that would have made it a Lancia Beta Monte Carlo beater (X1/9 drove better IMHO) which sat higher up the then FIAT group pecking order, price & image wise.
I owned a '78 1300 in Metallic Orange with the original striped seats and Cromodora Alloy Wheels (similar to pic but without the ladder stripes). It was a RHD UK Launch Edition car that had been registered in Australia in 1980 so during my ownership years of 2003-9 it still had containable corrosion consistent with it’s age. Despite the diminutive appearance the packaging was superb, fitting my 6’2" frame more comfortably than the Mk 1 MX-5 S-Ltd I had here in the UK until 2 years ago and the combined front & rear luggage storage compartments allowed for weekends away for two while carrying wet-suits & snorkelling gear up front!
I prefer the Targa roof arrangement of the X1/9 to a conventional soft-top and despite the criticisms you often read, my car was reliable with only the odd malfunction or replacement consistent with a car from that period - not MX-5 reliable but arguably, pre- 240Z/RX-7/MR2/MX-5, sportscars simply weren’t.
It’s a car that always felt better resolved, engineered & refined than the TR7 DHC Sprint that I owned concurrently with it and there was a genuine sense of class and occasion to the driving experience befitting it’s mini-Urraco/308 GT4 Bertone appearance.
The sense of class/ occasion thing is interesting- I’ve never bought high end premium cars , but the usual litany of hot hatches and 4wd SUVs , supplemented by Sevens , then MX5 . Only four cars gave me that special tingle every time I even sat in them - the two Sevens (where I felt like a 60s Lotus Grand Prix driver ) , a Clan Crusader (in rural Lincolnshire in 1977 it got the same reaction as a UFO ) and my two Alfasud Tis . The Alfas ticked every box - Ferrari- like long arm /short leg driving position, footrest (nothing normal had them then ) , all round discs (ditto ) , 5 speeds (ditto ) a gear lever and gaiter that looked like it came from a Maserati , the second best logo of all and a tearing calico exhaust note . Adored them
Think I know what what you mean John, Italian cars of that era gave me the same visceral feeling. Of course I had my first X1/9 when I was 19 so that coincided with lots of happy hormones and few responsibilities
And meaning , very prosaically, 'four door '. Ferrari ’ itself is a classic case of onomatopoeia(say it out loud and a 'Ferrari 'sounds like a V12 driving by ) but also nominative determinism - ie that people are predisposed to do a job which evokes their name - and Ferrari means Smith
