For pedigree, rarity, style, fun, and bucketfuls of the old car quirks that we all love, there’s not much that can beat a Lancia Scorpion (née Montecarlo), bang-for-the-buck-wise.
This 1976 model is claimed to be the recipient of a recent respray in factory white, and its panels are all said to be very straight as well. With a scant 61.5k miles from new, it’s pretty Pininfarina-penned lines saw only roughly 1,700 miles of road a year—a feat requiring quite a bit of restraint from its previous three owners from new. We love the red leather interior, which is also claimed to have recently been reupholstered.
Mechanically, the car is said to be in very fine fettle, with a host of great upgrades including dual Webers, full performance exhaust including header, and Whoa Brakes. Among the recent parts replacements performed are new starter, head gasket, tires, brake and clutch master cylinders, and belts and hoses. Furthermore the seller says it has won “Best Lancia” at the Tutto Italiano car show sometime in the past.
Potential buyers should bear in mind this a near-four decade old Italian car, meaning it’s a double-edged sword of high style and high maintenance/low parts availability. Its famous Lampredi twincam four is inheritably reliable if treated well with frequent oil changes and sympathetic use, but electrical gremlins are likely in the mid-term. Trim, particularly on the lurid interior, is delicate, brittle, and mostly unobtanium—care is required when reaching for things, operating switches and so on.
With reserve not met at $5,100, it’s impossible for us to speculate on value, but if it’s in keeping with current market values it will likely go for low five-figures—like we said, tons of cool for the buck. Similar machines (a broad definition of “similar”—nothing’s like a Scorpion) to be had for that kind of money are Fiat X1/9s, immaculate, early 124 Spiders, and low-to-mid market Alfa Spiders of less-desired specs. We’d take the Scorpion over any of them, its combination of roll-back top, mid-engined Fiat twincam thrills, and funky side-opening engine bay panel too awesome to resist.
Click here to see the Scorpion details.
