A Florida man bought a Mazda Miata RF (ND2) and had it styled after the 1978 Lancia Scorpion. Sounds simple enough? Oh, it’s anything but. Suffice it to say, the transport authorities of Florida have granted this Miata an actual registration title that says ‘Lancia Scorpion’. Let’s delve into the details!
The project was carried out by McHugh’s Automotive Group. The owner of the shop, Jim McHugh, explained that the owner’s original desire was to restore a genuine Scorpion imported from Italy to its peak condition. However, he ultimately realized that there were simply not enough spare parts around to rebuild an exotic car made in 1978 from scratch. Then he went for the Plan B: take a Miata chassis and put the Scorpion bodywork on top of it.
While working on the project, the team had to fabricate a unique rear subframe for the car and borrow many rear-end components from the Lotus Elise. Dozens of parts were made from scratch for this build, too, and dozens more were sourced from other cars. For instance, the exhaust system came from a Honda Civic Type R, while the headlights were sourced from a Porsche Macan. The hood with its large air scoop is a nod to the earlier Pontiac GTO generations, and the trim pieces all around are references to the assorted Chevy Corvette variants out there. You would think the whole would look like a Frankenstein monster, but it actually looks coherent and beautiful.
Much of the same applies to the interior, which has been overhauled from the ground up. A peek under the hood reveals a V8 engine bay lid, but that’s just a ruse: the Miata continues to rely on its stock turbo four-pot.
Watch the full video for a more detailed look at this wonderful build that allegedly took 3,100 hours to complete.