THE FIAT X1/9 - A CELEBRATION
By Andrew Roberts |
10th December, 2020
When Tony Bastable took the Fiat X1/9 through its paces for Thames Television’s Drive In -
- he reported ‘it’s got style, its lively and it handles beautifully’. At that time British motorists had been awaiting imports of the X1/9 for several years. By 1974 Radbourne Racing Ltd. offered a RHD conversion, but it would not be until January 1977 when Fiat would officially launch a UK-market version.
The origins of the X1/9 date back to 1969 with Autobianchi’s A112 Runabout concept car. Three years later, Fiat mesmerised visitors to the Turin Motor Show with a new mid-engine sports car. The coachwork incorporated a “Targa Top” roof that could be stored in the front boot and power was from the 1,290cc SOHC unit from the 128 Coupé 1300. The radiator was mounted at the front, with the petrol tank and spare wheel behind the seats.
Above all, the X1/9 looked utterly different from the 850 Spider Fiat it intended to replace – and virtually any other small sports car. One key market for the X1/9 was the USA, where it competed against the MG Midget and the Triumph Spitfire. Road & Track of March 1973 thought the Fiat rated ‘as a thoroughly modern sports car, lively in performance, precise to handle, and a very real pleasure to drive’. By the late 1970s, the British motoring press tended to compare the X1/9 to the TR7, which cost £3,335 to the Fiat’s £2,998.
Of course, the Triumph boasted a 2-litre engine and offered more speed than the Fiat – 110 mph and 0-60 in 9.5 seconds as opposed to 105 mph and 11. 6 seconds. It also had a different image with a comfortable cabin designed to appeal to the affluent US motorists who wanted a sports car for the weekend. As for the X1/9, its interior is best described as ‘compact Euro-chic’.
Car of April 1977 regarded the Triumph’s styling as ‘awful from any angle other than the front’, but it was ‘otherwise a very commendable effort’. As for the Fiat, it was ‘the definitive small production sports car – the sort of car that, had the right decisions been taken a long time ago, Leyland might have created using Mini 1275GT or even Maxi components’.
In that same year, Fiat produced 700 examples of the special edition Lido, which featured black metallic paint, chrome bumpers, white upholstery and silver pin-stripes. This was a prelude to the 1978 X1/9 1500, with an engine and five-speed transmission from the Ritmo/Strada. Fiat boasted of a top speed of 112 mph with ‘the feel of a supercar’
Autocar of 14th April 1979 stated the X1/9 1500 was ‘What a Midget ought to beat’. There was also the poignant observation that the magazine was evaluating the Fiat a few weeks after BL announced the imminent end to the production of the small MG. Two years later What Car tested the X1/9 opposite the TR7, Fiat, Alfasud Sprint and Lancia Beta 1.6 Coupe and believed the Triumph’s ‘relaxed, mature manner makes it feel the big daddy of the group’. By contrast, the X1/9 ‘would make the ideal second car; tremendous fun when you want it’.
1982 saw production move from Fiat to Bertone, for the X1/9’s last seven years. It deserves to be remembered as the first mid-engine sports car within reach of the average motorist, with sheer style worthy of a Ferrari or Lamborghini. And in Britain of 1977, any car equipped with pop-up headlamps was automatically regarded as “exotic”.
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