The Fiat X19 wasn’t difficult to change spark plugs, there were only 4 and they were easy to get at, at least in my 1975 model.
I test drove an X1/9 brand new many years ago. It was a blast. I went tearing down the road, winding the engine out, and looked down and discovered I was only doing 50!
But the door handle came off in my hand. So I kept looking.
“I’ve often wondered why cars couldn’t be designed so that the hood and fenders tilt forward so that one could walk right up and service the engine.”
A few have been. The Austin Healey bugeye Sprite did, too. It’s hard to work on the Sprite engine, though. Some folks just take the hood off.