Racing-spec Fiat X1/9 offers giant-killing pace without crimping style
Some referred to the Fiat X1/9 as the runaround of hairdressers, but this racer will put curls in your hair, says Simon de Burton
If exclusivity is a consideration, you'll not find too many other Fiat X1/9s on British tracks
Alastair Baptie
Fiat’s diminutive, mid-engined X1/9s of the 1970s and ’80s were once a familiar sight on UK roads – until the combination of Italian tinwork and British road salt killed most of them off. There are now thought to be fewer than 300 left in the country.
Fully race prepared versions are therefore rarer than the proverbial hen’s teeth – not least because the X1/9 doesn’t immediately spring to mind when talk turns to the white heat of competition.
But this example being sold by Scottish farmer and enthusiastic amateur racer Alastair Baptie is proof positive that the Fiat often dismissed as a ‘hairdresser’s car’ can be transformed into a true giant killer.
In 2016, the car was rebuilt from a shell and has since won a number of classic races and, according to its owner, been 100% reliable
Alastair Baptie
Baptie bought the X1/9 in good road-going condition back in 2015 and proceeded to strip it to its bare bones before rebuilding it as a racer from the ground up, complete with seam-welded bodyshell, integrated rollcage, fully adjustable rose-jointed suspension, a Quaife quick rack and four- pot brake calipers.
The car’s 1500cc engine was tweaked to produce 145bhp at 7000 rpm with the addition of twin Weber 45 carburettors, a full race exhaust system and an upgraded ignition module, while the power reaches the ground through a Bacci Romano five-speed dog box.
To say the set-up proved effective is an understatement. Competing against many more expensive race cars, Baptie took the 796kg Fiat to no fewer than three Scottish Championship class wins (2017, 2018 and 2020) and set the up-to-1500cc class A record at Knockhill with a lap of 59.5secs.
And, despite having been laid up in one of Baptie’s barns for eight months in favour of his current MGB V8 racer, the X1/9 recently proved it has still got what it takes by snatching fifth overall at Thirlestane Castle during June’s Sir Jackie Stewart Classic.
“We took the MG there but it broke a half-shaft on the start line on the first day, leaving us out of the competition,” says Baptie. “But someone suggested we went home to get the X1/9 which, despite having sat in the barn since last October, fired up instantly and performed superbly throughout the following day.
“I think part of the reason X1/9s didn’t become a popular choice for racing is that they were never a poster car in their day – but the combination of the rear mid-engine and the fact that the body was made very rigid for safety reasons gives it superb handling. It could quite easily cope with a lot more horsepower.”
Baptie will provide a full list of set-up information with the car, along with timing sheets from every occasion he has driven it. And, for an extra £5950, he’ll throw-in a spares package that includes a second gearbox with LSD, extra drive shafts and a set of wet wheels and tyres.
Who needs a Ferrari?
1979 Fiat X1/9
On sale with Alastair Baptie, Perth
Tel: 07831 187250
Asking: £20,950