One of the most elegant small-capacity sports Coupe cars to be manufactured in the late 1950s, the Fiat-Abarth 850 Scorpione, clothed with coachbuilt bodywork by Carrozzeria Allemano, is something of a little-known triumph of its time.

Carlo Abarth wanted to place such an elegant little Coupe in the marketplace alongside his very competition-orientated 750GT that was bodied by Carrozzeria Zagato of Milan.

The more discreet and sobre design now offered here was styled by none other than the great Giovanni Michelotti – and it is widely acknowledged as having been "perhaps the finest designer body ever created on the floor pan of the Fiat 600", as Abarth historian Luciano Greggio has put it.

Carrozzeria Allemano of Turin was itself established in 1928 and would operate until 1965, under the direction of Serafino Allemano.

Some of the earliest Ferrari cars were Allemano-bodied and they also provided bodywork for Cisitalia, Fiat, Siata, Maserati and ATS in addition to assorted exercises...