The truth is that throughout the mid-late 70's very few of the affordable sports cars of the day had much in the way of performance. HP numbers kept going down on many of these cars in comparison to their European counterparts. The British sports cars of the day were even worse as their low tech engines were handicapped with emission controls that were not well thought out. So the Scorpions with their 81 HP engines, down a whopping 39 HP from the Montecarlo's 120 was unfortunately the norm for the day. No doubt it contributed to the low sales numbers as the story about Ron's dad clearly shows. Personally, I like the styling including the wheels and steering wheel, the real issue with these cars is the low compression, emissions version of the Lampredi engine. If this car had come to market with the original Fiat 130 V6 engine, few of us would be able to afford one today. Even with the emissions controls of the 70's, this would have offered incredible performance and a true exotic car experience.
IMHO, in 2023, the Lancia Scorpion is still an affordable semi-exotic car and pretty much a clean slate to build it into what the factory could not do back in the 70's. I have one that will remain stock, except for an engine rebuild to let it run properly and the other car will get the full treatment to make it into what these cars could have been from the factory.