A completely frivolous post

That krazee question that came to light one eve,,, What would you get if money were no object? One item only was the unspoken intent of the question. 

Well, some of my long time readers may remember this little beast as being one of the loves of my life.

Thats a sort-of rare 1987 Fiat X/1-9, rare because they stopped producing them in 1986, and she was sold in the US as new in 87 even if the production stamp is for early 86.   BUT, she was also the last of the line for FIat in the US until recent years.  Sadly, I can’t see them bringing them back.  No demand for 2 seater mid-engined cars like that these days. (when I saw my first four door Mustang, I about puked, to be honest,,,  WTF? ). The above was mildly massaged for better performance and had to run on premium because she was at 11:1 compression with 4-2-2 exhaust system. Little girl screamed like a banshee when you downshifted into turns.

BUT, thats not what I would want to buy if money were no object.  Nopes,,, I would want her sister instead.   I know, I know, the euphemisms keep piling up in this post,,,,

Introducing her sister,,,,

The Lancia Stratos.

The biggest difference between them is engine size.  The designer is the same man, and Lancia was a subdivision of FIat at that time.   The X had a 1.5L inline 4, single carb or bosch EFI, depending on the year (the first few years were 1.3L carb only).  The Stratos was a Dino V-6 with a hot cam. (Dino, son of Enzo, as in Ferrari.)  (note: There was a hot cam that was widely available for the X as well.  The cam out of a Yugo.  Fiat had sold the block castings to Yugo, and the cams they used had to be hot since they downgraded the engines to 1.1L.   Take the cam out of a yugo, and it was a 10HP increase bolted into an X.)

And while I was searching for that pic,,, Found out they re-released the Stratos in 2018,,,,,Squeeee!!!!!

If money were no object,,,,    

You can keep your Ferrari’s, your Lamborghinis etc,,,,Give me the lower end Italians and I would be very happy,,,  (after I get rid of those hateful wiring harnesses as big as your upper arm,,, electric by Lucas, promised to catch fire when you least expect,,,)