Guide: Inter-Gallactic Beauty - a Historical & Technical Appraisal of the Abarth SE 010 Pininfarina Scorpio

Sep 11

Sep 11 Guide: Inter-Gallactic Beauty - a Historical & Technical Appraisal of the Abarth SE 010 Pininfarina Scorpio

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Background

From the SE 04 1000 SP (a one-litre prototype racing car), Abarth designer, Mario Collucci, created a series of even more potent two-litre variants. First to arrive was the visually similar SE 04/L in the summer of 1967. A wide track FB2 variant followed a few weeks later. Both cars were referred to as 2000 Sport Spiders and were predominantly used for hillclimbs.

In 1968, Abarth released a ‘production’ version, the SE 010, of which more than 50 were ultimately manufactured.

Equipped with a reinforced chassis and the same rear-mounted two-litre engine as before, the SE 010 also came with a handsome new body and went on to have a distinguished competition career.

Abarth hoped to produce sufficient SE 010s to qualify for Group 4. 25 units were required for homologation which was ultimately approved by the FIA on April 1st 1969.

Abarth & Pininfarina

Carlo Abarth had first worked with Pininfarina on Piero Dusio’s Cisitalia project in the late 1940s. Since then, Abarth and Pininfarina had collaborated on a series of late fifties speed record cars followed by a brace of design concepts: the 1964 1000 GT Spider and 1965 OT 1000 Coupe.

In late 1968, an SE 010 rolling chassis was supplied to Pininfarina for adaption as a show-stopping design study.

The resultant Fiat Abarth 2000 Pininfarina Scorpio was displayed on Pininfarina’s stand at the Brussels Motor Show in January 1969.

Chassis

Under the exciting new skin, the Scorpio was pure SE 010.

Its 39kg tubular steel chassis had a 2085mm wheelbase which was reinforced with an additional 8kg of fibreglass.

Suspension was independent all round with double wishbones installed at the front and reversed lower wishbones, top links and trailing arms at the rear. Coil sprung hydraulic dampers were fitted to each corner along with anti-roll bars at either end.

Disc brakes came from Girling in England while the 13-inch diameter wheels were sourced from Campagnolo in Italy. These magnesium alloy rims measured 8-inches wide at the front, 10-inches wide at the rear and were originally shod with Dunlop racing tyres.

To allow for an ultra low profile nose, the Scorpio did without the SE 010’s front-mounted spare wheel.

Fuel tanks with an overall capacity of 60-litres were fitted in each sill instead of the long-range 100-litre cells used for endurance racing.

Engine / transmission

Although Mario Collucci was a proponent of mid-engined layouts for racing, Carlo Abarth was a strong advocate of the rear-engined configuration. For the SE 010, the boss won out and Abarth’s two-litre inline four cylinder power unit was longitudinally mounted over the rear axle.

Based on a cast-iron Fiat production block, this latest iteration of the venerable Abarth Tipo 236 motor utilised a light alloy DOHC head with four valves per cylinder and dry-sump lubrication. It featured two coils, two distributors and displaced 1946cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 88mm and 80mm respectively.

As the Scorpio was ostensibly for road use, Abarth installed a slightly detuned engine; compression was reduced from 11.5:1 to 10.5:1 and two Weber 45 DCOE carburettors were fitted instead of the usual 58 DCOs.

As a result, peak output dropped from 250bhp at 8700rpm to 220bhp at 7600rpm.

To deliver more torque to the rear wheels, a higher 4.0:1 rear axle ratio was employed instead of the standard 3.5:1 arrangement.

Transmission was via a five-speed manual gearbox, a single dry-plate clutch and limited-slip differential.

Bodywork

For all the technical wizardry that lay beneath, it was Pininfarina’s out of this world body that grabbed the headlines.

At the Paris Motor Show in October 1968, Bertone had caused a sensation when they unveiled the wild new Carabo dream car. This wedge-shaped Alfa Romeo-based projectile turned the design world on its head and Pininfarina were quick to respond.

Compared to Pininfarina’s Ferrari 250 P5 of March 1968 and their Ferrari P6 of November 1968, the Scorpio was flatter and more angular. However, soft curves were still far more evident than on Bertone’s seminal creation.

The Scorpio’s nose and windscreen were inclined at an identical angle while the entire prismatic roof tilted forwards for access to the cockpit.

Like the 250 P5, Pininfarina installed a large central bank of retractable headlights in the nose. Teardrop cooling ducts either side fed fresh air to the brakes while intakes concealed on the cockpit pillars were for the radiators.

Enormous satin black vents flanked the fastback rear screen under which the mechanicals were on full view. Most of the tail fascia was cut away for a similar effect.

Compared to the standard SE 010, the Scorpio was 70mm longer.

Visibility should theoretically have been excellent thanks to the trio of enormous glass windows that made up the cockpit canopy. However, as the Scorpio stood just 970cm tall and offered no rearward vision, it would have been a wholly impractical proposition for road use.

Interior

Inside, Pininfarina fitted a rudimentary black vinyl dash around the existing instrument layout. A large 10,000rpm tachometer was mounted directly behind the three-spoke Abarth steering wheel. There were also smaller gauges for oil pressure, water temperature and fuel.

Two seats with black vinyl bolsters and red fabric centres were positioned either side of the standard open gate gear lever. The front bulkhead was trimmed in more black vinyl. The sidewalls and floor were upholstered with black carpet.