The Abarth Scorpione is Abarth's vision on the Grand Prix. That means that he rebuild the car according to his need for speed. But he did it in a neath way. Its exterior didn't change much. Only the fuelinlet moved from the engine compartment to the left rear fender. Although they look very simalar it is said that no bodypanel from the Scorpione fits on any Grand Prix.
Underneath a bit more is changed. Just like the Abarth 1300/124, Abarth's version of the Fiat 850 Coupe, a Fiat 124 engine is shoehorned into the engine compartment. It is (how?) mounted at the stock Fiat 850 gearbox. In order to improve the cooling is the radiotor moved to the front of the car.
There are available two mechanical versions, the 1300 Scorpion and the 1300 Scorpion S. Both have the same engine, the 1300 cc unit which gives 75 bhp at 6000 rpm, and is based on the Fiat 124. The original 1197 cc unit was increased to 1280.41 cc by boring the cylinders from 73 mm to 75.5 mm. The stroke, unchanged, remained at 71.5mm, while the compression ratio was upped to 10.5: 1.
The SS-version has also an improved suspension. At the front the suspension of the Abarth 1000 TC racers is used. The engine gives a bit more horsepower (100 instead of 75).
The smart body is a creation of Francis Lombardi, a young Italian car couturier. The same shape was sold under different names (Abarth, Lombardi, Giannini and OTAS) and with different engines.
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