eBay Find of the Galaxy: 1979 Fiat X/19

We know that eBay's slogan says "You can get it on eBay," and for the most part that's really a great thing. Let's just say that certain Autobloggers appreciate the fact that there's a place on the web where one can easily acquire a mint-condition print advertisement for the 2-door 1970 Chrysler Imperial whenever the urge to do so strikes.

Sometimes, however, a longer perusal of the site uncovers finds that are so startling, one can only think, "Well, yes, you can get it... but should you?" Such is the case with the 1979 Fiat X/19 seen above. It began life as one of the attractive little Bertone-bodied 2-seaters. While we admit that many of the ones we see today (at least in this writer's Northeastern habitat) are in lamentably poor shape, we're pretty sure that we prefer stock examples, no matter how sad and rusted, to this.

Plenty more... follow the jump for the rest of it, including photos.

Thanks to Horst for the tip!

[Source: eBay]

The X/19 you see here has been fitted with a 400 small-block Chevy V8. We have no problem with folks stuffing V8s into small European cars. Had there been a way to retain the Fiat's stock looks to complement the American power, we'd be standing up and applauding. However, that didn't appear to be possible, and the owner saw fit to rebody the Fiat in such a manner that it now looks ready to battle advancing AT-ATs on the ice planet Hoth.

The seller describes it as being "one-of-a-kind" (no arguments here), "streetable" yet "hard to drive" (we can only imagine) and feels that it "needs to be in a museum" (or perhaps Ripley's Believe it or Not). He closes by calling it "the true meaning of hotrod" (we surrender). The cherry on top is the asking price: $40,000 (our wallet surrenders).

We'd like to take this opportunity to offer prospective buyers an important reminder:
Their armor's too thick for blasters. You'll have to use your tow cable.

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