Upper Middle Petrol Head:

The culprit. It all started with James' immaculate 1982 Bertone X1/9.  Next there was a Fiat Polski 126 - we won't let a minor geographical technicality spoil our theme - a classic Fiat 500 and Rino's Series 1 Fiat X1/9 making its second consecutive appearance ... .  A quick look around the Long Beach car park then quickly revealed there were enough Fiats, Maseratis, Alfas, Lancias and Ferraris to devote today's coverage of Hobart's regular first-Sunday-of-the-month  Classics by The Beach entirely to Italian marques, so that's what we're doing!   James hasn't had his fuel-injected Bertone X1/9 for long - it's not his first X1/9, though - having bought it in Melbourne in a fully restored state.  The paint and bright work are superb, the engine bay is surgically clean and the predominantly leather interior is great nick, too.  It's wearing a lovely set of Cromodora CD-16s that set it off perfectly.       Being a Polski*  Fiat, this 12...

Unfortunately, this immaculate 1978  Serie Speciale  Fiat X1/9 - photographed at southern Tasmania's regular first-Sunday-of-the-month cars 'n' coffee, held at Sandy Bay, 10 minutes' drive from the Hobart CBD - is not mine *.           It's a beautiful example of the marque, featuring flawless duco and panels, plus a very neat interior. Owner Rino has had it since March, this year, and has slowly been putting it back to original spec, swapping out a non-standard steering wheel for the factory version shown above, as well as sourcing several other items to help restore the car's originality. A set of Cromodora CD-91 wheels will soon be replacing the black spoke "Hot Wires" shown two images above. A CD-91, courtesy of the X-Web Forums. Power is provided by an almost standard 1.3 litre Lampredi four-pot - it's running a mild cam and electronic ignition, but retains its stock carbie and exhaust - coupled to a four-speed 'box, as did all Series 1 ex...