TWIN TEST
SMALL WONDERS The Fiat X1/9 was a sharp-suited take on the small sports car sector. But how does it stack up against the timeless MG Midget? Words: Sam Skelton Photography: Paul Wager
T
he MG Midget is to many the archetypal classic small sports car. Front engine, rear wheel drive, tried and trusted mechanicals and an open body that screams of summer days and picnics. But as the 1960s became the 1970s the Midget lost its delicacy of line. Fitted with polyurethane bumpers that looked five times too big for what was already an old design, against cars designed for the new decade it appeared an irrelevance. And one of the sharpest was the Fiat X1/9. Styled by Bertone and looking as angular as Leyland’s larger TR7, the mid engined machine sat squarely in line with the Midget’s target audience – even if its asking price was closer to that of the Triumph. While prices may have been too far apart to consider them rivals in the late 1970s, they’ve become seen as alternatives on the classic market. But how to they compare?
MG MIDGET 1500
The MG Midget dates back in concept to 1958 and the Austin-Healey Sprite. This happy looking little car used Austin A35 mechanical components in a body which looked like the most enthusiastic frog you ever did see, earning it the Frogeye sobriquet. When it was facelifted for 1961, the decision was made to offer the car 36 July 2022
not only as an Austin-Healey, but also as an entry level MG – reviving the Midget name last seen on the TF1500 in 1955. As launched, it had a 948cc A-series engine, along with simple yet square-jawed styling that partially predicted the look of the MGB of the following year. Not even fitted with door handles in its earliest incarnation, a folding hood was the sort of luxury Midget man could only dream of, and in place of winding windows were side screens. The Midget evolved over time though – first gaining door handles and wind-up windows with the MKII of 1964, and finally a folding hood with the MKIII of 1966. By then the engine had grown to 1275cc – a detuned version of that found in the Mini Cooper S in order to avoid outperforming the bigger B – and the styling had remained largely unchanged. New grilles followed in line with changes to the MGB, and in 1971 the rear portion of the body was modified to feature round wheel arches similar to those fitted to the earliest Sprites. By this time the final Sprites had been built – badged solely as Austin to avoid paying royalties to Donald Healey. The round wheel arches would cease in October 1974 but not before large and unsightly overriders (nicknamed Sabrinas, in honour of a well-endowed British actressof the era) had been fitted in a
