Fiat Abarth 2000 Scorpio concept car

[Rich Chernosky]

I wanted to do this one as a paint excercise when I aquired the new Tamiya LP line. So it is mopstly box stock.  Color I chose was LP44 Metallic Orange. I added a coat of LP53 Clear Orange and finished with the clear LP9.  Kit is quite rare as Nakamura did not do too many cars.  This car was a concept car built in 1969 by Pininfarina on an Abarth 2000 Sport Spider SE chassis. Car is powered by a 4 cyl engine but due to the extreme light weight of the car it was capable of 175mph.  There was only one model built and it is currently in Japan on display in a museum.  More info on this site:  https://www.motor1.com/news/128077/fiat-abarth-2000-scorpione-concept/    An unusual subject for sure and i hope you enjoy it. See specifics below. 

I only added a few extra details like those turn signals in front. 

Rear veiw shows the single exhaust from the rear mount 4cly engine. I understand it was quite loud.   Rear glass had a nasty flaw in it and had to be replaced with sheet styrene. 

Scorpion and script were from the kit decals but the stripes are vinyl tape. Surprisingly 50yr old decal came off the sheet.  Rear deck hinges backwards and the entire windshield comes up on the real car. Car was supposed to be motorized so most of the interior is taken up by battery housing. Entire chassis is removable so at a later date I could add a real interior...but for now...I wanted it done.

[Kah puts]

An exotic rocket, bravo. 

[beeRS]

Wow. This is a car I have never heard of. Never knew of the kit either. 
It turned out beautiful in orange. Thanks for sharing. 

[ChrisR]

Cool!

[Bainford]

Very cool, Rich. Super interesting car, never knew a kit existed. I like the custom paint.

[mustang1989]

15 minutes ago, Bainford said:

Very cool, Rich. Super interesting car, never knew a kit existed. I like the custom paint.

I never knew it existed either. Makes for a good conversation piece and it turned out great.

[Gramps46]

Very well done and thanks for the link.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Pretty cool...and geez, now I have to find one.

EDIT: Over 400 bucks now...probably not. That would be a good start on saving for a real quick-change rear end for the hot rod.

I had assumed this car was built on a 1300OT chassis. Now I know better. Thanks.   

Edited May 10, 2022 by Ace-Garageguy

[espo]

Great looking color and finish. 

[Rich Chernosky]

17 hours ago, Kah puts said:

An exotic rocket, bravo. 

Yes it was...thank you

 

14 hours ago, beeRS said:

Wow. This is a car I have never heard of. Never knew of the kit either. 
It turned out beautiful in orange. Thanks for sharing. 

I have used clear orange over other oranges, but never this metallic one. I was happy with it too. 

 

10 hours ago, ChrisR said:

Cool!

Thanks

 

3 hours ago, Bainford said:

Very cool, Rich. Super interesting car, never knew a kit existed. I like the custom paint.

Thanks Trevor.  I knew about the car and finding the kit it was a "gotta have"

 

2 hours ago, mustang1989 said:

I never knew it existed either. Makes for a good conversation piece and it turned out great.

It sure will, thanks for the compliment.

 

2 hours ago, Gramps46 said:

Very well done and thanks for the link.

You're welcome Gary, it was an interesting build that's fer sure. 

 

2 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Pretty cool...and geez, now I have to find one.

EDIT: Over 400 bucks now...probably not. That would be a good start on saving for a real quick-change rear end for the hot rod.

I had assumed this car was built on a 1300OT chassis. Now I know better. Thanks. 

I see you did what I did and took a look on Ebay. My reaction was   "gulp"    But keep it in your search.  When they can't get that kind of money the prices have a habit of coming down. I knew it was a rare kit, but not that rare.  Thanks for sharing.  

 

2 hours ago, espo said:

Great looking color and finish. 

Thank you. 

 

[Richard Bartrop]

I've always had a thing for the Italian concept cars of this era, and this one is high on the list, but I didn't know there was a kit of it.  Thanks for sharing!

[happy grumpy]

Nice looking concept. definitely not your typical Fiat. Great job on it.

[1959scudetto]

Very unusual build for you, Rich ! I have the same kit in a silly fantasy"race version" (!?) This was only a styling exercise - a show car, never intended to be a racer.

Only an ugly decal sheet had been added to the otherwise unchanged kit:

I have won this one a few years ago for a fair price on ebay:  the tires are junk, the interior leaves a lot to be desired, but the engine looks like it came from a diesel locomotive (obviously it was made that big to hide an electric engine, which was very often the case with Japanese kits 50 years ago - remember, they were made for playing, so perfect proportions were secondary.)

But anyway, I think with some work, an acceptable  representation can be made: the light bar on the front is rounded which was exactly the prototype at its debut in 1969. Later it has been changed and is totally straight (most pics on the Internet show the actual, restored car). Also the wheels look quite good - only the tires need replacement.

My plan is as follows: Building up a realistic looking interior, replacing the engine and the tires, gluing the engine cover shut and try to achieve something similar like this - the original 1969 prototype:

 

Here is the restored car with a few detail changes:

Pics are from the internet .- the following two are from famous German racing car photographer Rainer Schlegelmilch shot in the 1990's

All in all, the kit is surely workable - the engine in the above photo  looks almost like the powerplant from Politoys Abarth 2000 (1/25 die-cast). I'm not sure about the scale: for me, it seems to be somewhere between 1/24 and 1/20, but I could be wrong. Nakamura kits are - - - - - , but the only alternative would be scratchbuilding.

I had a 1/24 Nakamura Lola T70 Mk III which was a bad joke and I sold it very soon (clumsy and distorted - a caricature of this racer)

Edited May 12, 2022 by 1959scudetto

[Rich Chernosky]

5 hours ago, 1959scudetto said:

Very unusual build for you, Rich ! I have the same kit in a silly "race version" (!?) This was only a styling exercise - a show car.

Only an ugly decal sheet had been added:

I have won this one a few years ago for a fair price on ebay:  the tires are junk, the interior leaves a lot to be desired, but the engine looks like it came from a diesel locomotive (obviously it was made that big to hide an electric engine, which was very often the case with Japanese kits 50 years ago - remember, they were made for playing, so perfect proportions were secondary.)

But anyway, I think with some work, an acceptable  representation can be made: the light bar on the front is rounded which was exactly the prototype at its debut in 1969. Later it has been changed and is totally straight (most pics on the Internet show the actual, restored car). Also the wheels look quite good - only the tires need replacement.

My plan is as follows: Building up a realistic looking interior, replacing the engine and the tires, gluing the engine cover shut and try to achieve something similar like this - the original 1969 prototype:

Helmut

 

Here is the restored car with a few detail changes:

Pics are from the internet .- the following two are from famous German racing car photographer Rainer Schlegelmilch shot in the 1990's

  

All in all, the kit is surely workable - the engine in the above photo  looks almost like the powerplant from Politoys Abarth 2000 (1/25 die-cast). I'm not sure about the scale: for me, it seems to be somewhere between 1/24 and 1/20, but I could be wrong. Nakamura kits are BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH, but the only alternative would be scratchbuilding.

I had a 1/24 Nakamura Lola T70 Mk III which was a bad joke and I sold it very soon (clumsy and distorted - a caricature of this racer)

Helmut...thank you for posting those pictures. Those are some I had not seen when I was doing my search. Its a cool car in those photos.  The model kit was as you said.  A lot to be desired.   Of course I was just doing it as a paint excercise. I think it would have been great to do all the upgrades you suggested....I just didn't want to invest the time.  I will look forward to see what you do with yours.  I did check on the going rate for that kit for another modeler and you should be thankful you got it at the price you did.  All I can say is wow.  Like you I also have the Nakamura Lola and the Ford GT MKIV.   I have compared the Lola to others I have  and I think its still do-able.  The Ford...???  Those will be for another time. 

[1959scudetto]

Rich, I only believe that this will not be in the near future. I hardly find time for building now, maybe when I'm in my retirement which is still 3 years ahead.

[Rich Chernosky]

2 hours ago, 1959scudetto said:

Rich, I only believe that this will not be in the near future. I hardly find time for building now, maybe when I'm in my retirement which is still 3 years ahead.

Helmut...I retired  8 months ago. I owned a retail store and the building it was in. My apartment was up stairs and the shop in the basement. Often times when I was working I could wander down in the basement and gaze at my stash.   Some 300+.  Oh !!!...if I only had the time. That was my dream. Selling the business was the key and i had tried for many years. Finally the right people came along and I was able to retire. I still own the building but instead of store owner my only job  now is landlord. I can come and go as I please and do whatever. And that "whatever" is build models. You have witnessed my output these last few months so you know I am living my dream.  My hope for you is to live that same dream. You will enjoy it immensely.   Three years is not as many as  12  and that is what it took me.  Hang in there...you will achieve your goal. 

[spencer1984]

Excellent work on an interesting subject!

[slusher]

Beautiful model!!

[PappyD340]

Very nice!