- More photos at:
- http://picasaweb.google.com/markjrawlings/BlackScorpion
After 22 years of ownership, I have decided to sell my black 1976 Lancia Scorpion. This car has become somewhat of an icon in the Scorpion world, having appeared in magazine articles, at numerous car events on the west coast, and winning awards, including Best Lancia at the prestigious Concorso Italiano in
My goal for this car from the beginning was to create an updated version of the Scorpions sister; the European Monte Carlo. I wasn’t looking to create a hot rod or take the car beyond its original design, but rather develop it as I believe Lancia would have, had the car remained in production. My intent wasn’t to create a chromed and polished show car, but rather a top-notch driver’s car.
To that end, my first priority was locating an original, low mileage, unmolested, rust-free car with as perfect a body and interior as possible. I spent many months looking at numerous Scorpions before finding this car that met all my requirements.
The car was stripped down for preparation of new paint and European body panels. The doors, hood, engine cover, etc. were all removed. European Monte Carlo headlights, bumpers and Series 2 grill were fitted in place of the ugly USA Scorpion parts. Glass mounted Vitaloni mirrors, amber rear turn signal lens, and a 037 Rally hardtop were also added. Countless hours were spent preparing the body prior to paint. The car was then painted in a lustrous black base coat/clear coat for lasting durability that has passed the test of time.
The garish all red interior was reupholstered in a more subdued black and red scheme chosen to emphasize the wrap-around dash. Beautiful red leather seats compliment the red dash. Many custom features abound, including Momo steering wheel and shift knob, hand bound fine tuft carpet, period sisal floor mats, a custom rear parcel shelf and a Blaupunkt CD Stereo with a Fuba electronic roof mounted antenna.
The suspension was upgraded with custom coil-over KYB struts, allowing easy height adjustment and suspension tuning. The car is currently running 225 lb front and 250 lb rear springs for an ideal street-sport setup. Urethane bushings replaced the stock rubber parts for more precise handling.
Likewise, the brakes system was upgraded with Wilwood four piston front calipers with larger 11” rotors. The over-effective vacuum assist booster was removed, and stainless steel braided lines were added.
The original anemic carbureted 1.8 liter engine was replaced with a freshly rebuilt high performance 2 liter fuel injected engine. This engine started life in a low-mileage 1981 Lancia Beta and retains its Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection, cam mounted Marelli electronic ignition, and Sanden rotary A/C compressor. The engine was rebuilt using European 85mm pistons, raising both the compression and displacement. New, not reground, 40/80 cams were installed, allowing the engine to pull hard to 8000 rpm. The Bosch fuel injection system was upgraded with a custom high flow air meter, Weber big bore throttle body, blueprinted fuel injectors and a K&N air filter. This is a California BAR certified engine swap, which means there's no issues when it comes time for a smog test.
A Prima flow 4-2-1 header was used as the basis for a completely new exhaust system. The exhaust was fabricated from 2.25” mandrel bent tubing and connects to the header with a v-band clamp and stainless steel flex joint. The exhaust gasses pass through a high flow catalytic converter and Magnaflow straight thru muffler before exiting the Ansa stainless steel resonated tip.
The Scorpion’s otherwise excellent transaxle is improperly geared for the longer stroke two liter engine. This is usually overlooked when performing a 2 liter engine upgrade. To compensate, the stock 3.75 first gear was replaced with a 3.50 gear and the stock 0.925 fifth gear was replaced with a 0.860 gear resulting in gearing closely matching the 2 liter
The car is currently wearing rare Cromodora 14x6 Daytonas with Yokohama AVS Intermediate tire; 185/60/14 front and 205/60/14 rear. These include Abarth center caps, custom wheel studs and chrome bulge lug nuts.
Also available are the staggered Motegi RT5 15x7/16x8 wheels shown below. They include hub-centric/wheel-centric spacer/adapters custom made for precise indexing of the wheels to the car. The tires are Yokahamas excellent ES100s; 205/45/16 in back and 195/50/15 in front. Lancia center caps and black tuner lug nuts finish off the package.
- Exterior –
- Black Basecoat / Clearcoat
- Montecarlo bumpers, front and rear
- Montecarlo Headlights
- Montecarlo Series 2 grill
- 037 Double Bubble hardtop
- Through-glass remote mirrors
- Original rear tail panel with amber turn lenses and color matched lens screws
- Clear front turn lenses
- Suspension / Brakes –
- 15*7 & 16*8 Motegi RT5 wheels w/ Lancia crest centers and black tuner lugnuts
- 195/50/15 & 205/45/16 Yokohama ES100 tires
- Hub-centric / wheel-centric aluminum adapters / spacers
- Custom coil-over suspension with KYB struts
- Urethane suspension bushings
- Whoa front brakes
- SS braided brake lines
- Booster removed
- Engine –
- 2.0 liter
- 85mm 9.0:1 pistons
- 40/80 cams
- Cam-mounted Marelli distributor
- Beta Fuel Injection
- Prima-flow header w/ custom Magnaflow exhaust
- Transmission –
- Modified 1st & 5th gear (.865 overdrive)
- Interior –
- Red leather seats
- Red dash & armrests
- Black door panels, carpet, trim
- Momo Veloce steering wheels
- Momo shift knob
- Blaupunkt Stereo
- Infinity speakers
- Fuba electronic antenna
- Air conditioning
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