Fiat X1/9

The Fiat X1/9 is an Italian two-seater mid-engined sports car designed by Bertone and manufactured by Fiat from 1972 to 1982 and then by Gruppo Bertone from 1982 to 1989. It had a transverse engine and gearbox in a mid-mounted, rear-wheel drive layout and was noted for balanced handling, retractable headlights and a lightweight removable hardtop that could be stowed under the bonnet, and it was the first Fiat designed from the start to meet United States safety rules. It grew from the 1969 Autobianchi A112 Runabout concept styled by Marcello Gandini and used the Fiat 128 SOHC engine and transmission, moved behind the seats, with an engine designed by Aurelio Lampredi. Its launch slipped past the November 1972 Turin Motor Show to avoid upstaging the Fiat 126. Roughly 160,000 were built, about two thirds of them sold in the United States.