Permit:                                      22.08.1969
ABARTH VIN:                          104N 1334209*327*

The technology:

ABARTH engine - Typ A104
1296 ccm - 75 hp
Water cooling in front
Original 4-speed ABARTH gear box 9/35
Disc brakes in front - drums in the back
ABARTH BORRANI FERGAT steel wheels  5,5 x 13

The ABARTH SCORPIONE was the last series coupe that Carlo Abarth brought to market. There were two versions, the SCORPIONE 1300 S and the SCORPIONE 1300 SS. There are fewer than 20 of the 1300 SS. In total, around 250 cars left the ABARTH halls. The cars were offered from 1969 to 1971. Almost all of them were completed in 1969.

iorgetto Giugiaro designed the body and interior for the car manufacturer Francis Lombardi. Lombardi built the "Grand Prix" with the 850 cc FIAT engine on this basis. Together with Gianini, Lombardi founded the company O.T.A.S, which in turn equipped these cars with 1000 cc and 817 cc engines. Almost all O.T.A.S went to the USA.

Carlo Abarth saw Giorgetto Giugiaro's design as an opportunity to build a series coupé with significantly more power. So he built the SCORPIONE 1300 S & SS based on the LOMBARDI 850, naturally with extensive changes to the wheel arches, the underbody, the front end, the axle mounts and the engine compartment. The ABARTH engine, type A104, was based on that pushrod engine of the FIAT 124 with one cam..

Carlo Abarth intended the SCORPIONE 1300 S to compete with the Opel GT, Porsche 914, FIAT 124 Coupé, Lotus Europa and Alfa Romeo 1300 GT. Contemporary tests confirm this justification for comparison due to its low power-to-weight ratio. The car was highly praised in the magazin Auto-, Motor und Sport Nr. 22/1970. If only it hadn't been so expensive! With a price 20% higher than the other vehicles in this test, it remained an exotic.

The unusual shape, Italian elegance and its rarity make the SCORPIONE 1300 S so desirable today.

The history of this ABARTH SCORPIONE 1300 S:

The story of this SCORPIONE is hard to believe.
It was in first hand as a new car from 1969 until I was able to purchase it in 2020. The total verifiable mileage was 1,960 km in more than fifty years.
The German ABARTH scene knew about this ABARTH. Only hardly anyone had seen it. The car was bought by the first owner, a bodywork mechanic, in 1969 with minor transport damage. He repaired the damage but rarely drove the car. In 1975 it had a documented mileage of 153 km. In 1979 the first owner stored the car in such a way that it could no longer be moved. However, the SCORPIONE´s engine was regularly made to run. Eventually it ended up on top of two other LOMBARDI 850s and a FIAT 850 Spider. Everything was only accessible through a normal door.

After the owner's death, his family turned to RTL II  and a realty show, caslled "junk squad". The deceased owned a huge number of vintage cars and tons of parts, and they were overwhelmed with the idea of ​​selling them. In 2013, most of them were sold in two days - see episode 326 on RTL II.
The SCORPIONE 1300 S remained unsold because the public order office denied the television team and all potential buyers access to the dilapidated building in which it was located.

So the daughters of the first owner revived the car in the following years with the help of a local workshop. It was registered in 2019. The entire technology, exept of engine and gearbox, was overhauled. The body is still in the same condition today as it was in 1979. The paintwork is largely the first.

In 2020 I was able to purchase this SCORPIONE 1300 S from the family of the first owner.