Fancy a dose of mid-engine Italian exotica? Today's find on Bring A Trailer—which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos—won't quite rock you like a Lamborghini Huracán, but it is a fun and accessible classic from a brand with impeccable breeding. It's a Lancia Scorpion, one fitted with the feistier European engine and with a simply staggering amount of restoration work already done.
Launched in the 1970s as a hotter version of the Fiat X1/9, the Scorpion features similarly wedgy styling. It's like a Toyota MR2 that talks with its hands. This 1977 version has beautifully thin rear buttresses like a Maserati Merak, and some details lifted from the European Montecarlo version.
Across the Atlantic, the Lancia Montecarlo took its name from the marque's win at the 1975 Monte Carlo rally. Lancia is perhaps a lesser-known Italian brand, but it is one with a proud history. That includes breakthroughs like the first V-6–powered car (the achingly gorgeous B20 Aurelia), and winning more WRC titles than any other manufacturer. Its engineering was always forward-looking. Financial management, not so much.
Obviously Lancia couldn't sell a Montecarlo in the U.S. without General Motors deploying an entire paratrooper division of lawyers. Instead, possibly due to Abarth's racing success with one of the early prototypes, it was called the Scorpion. The U.S.-spec cars looked cool and cornered like the “on rails” cliche, but had less sting in the tail than a base model Pinto. They also cost more than a contemporary Corvette, so only the most ardent Lancia fans bought them.
Speaking of ardent Lancia fans, the current owner of this car certainly counts as one. He treated this Scorpion to an extensive restoration. Together with work done by the previous owner, the result is a Scorpion that in many ways is an improvement on the original. A 2.0-liter European-spec engine was installed, with high compression pistons, a ceramic-coated header, and a Magnaflow exhaust. Euro Montecarlos were good for something like 120 horsepower and 0-60 mph in a respectable 8.5 seconds. The suspension is all new too, as is the rack-and-pinion steering, and refreshed brakes. The 13-inch alloy wheels are shod with 185-series Falken tires. The interior has been refurbished and the body treated to a bare-metal respray and Euro bumpers. The lift-off roof panel appears to be one of the few remaining needs.
