How easy is it to own a 70's Italian car such as a Fiat or Ferrari ?

It is true that to own a 70's Fiat you have to be an enthusiast and prepared to get your hands dirty although one can often benefit from someone else's hard work. For example I rebuilt my '76 from the ground up and fitted many new parts (including the master cylinders!), but it only sold for £1250. I wish I still had it, but I had to make space for my GT4.

Most common classic cars tend to be cheap to buy and parts are very cheap (apart from body panels on the X1/9) relative to a modern car and the associated running costs.
Classic cars are much easier to maintain that modern cars due to their inherent simplicity - even Ferrari's.The main problem is finding a garage or shop who you would trust to do the work and will charge you a reasonable rate. I guess it's down to geography. For example owning, running and maintaining a 70's Triumph in the UK is easy because it's home territory for the marque. Equally air cooled VW's made it to all parts of the world so are well understood everywhere. But take your X1/9 to a garage to have them fix the headlamps because they don't pop up and you'll probably get a hefty bill. But let's face it, if you can fix the headlamps on an X1/9 then you can say that you can fix Ferrari's and Lamborghini's too which sounds kind of exotic.

I grew up on a diet of Fiat's and so moving to a 77 Ferrari 308 GT4 was no effort or shock. I could see how it could be for most people though and I would advise owning a cheap well maintained 70's Italian car before moving to the expensive stuff so you get the thrill and experience the levels of maintenance required.