By Dean Larson

There are few more iconic names in the world of vintage motorsports than Scarab. As one of the first all-American efforts to upset Europe’s domination in sports car racing, the heroic figures connected to the Scarab story include Lance Reventlow, Augie Pabst, Walt Hansgen, Harry Heuer and Carroll Shelby himself. Beyond a dream team of visionaries and talented drivers, the Scarab was a romantic union of a sultry sports car body, purpose-built racing chassis and Chevrolet’s hot new small-block engine — a perfected formula of cutting-edge tech for the day, and all American in origin.

Scarab Motorsports in Kansas City, Missouri celebrates the history of this iconic marque every day by building drop-dead gorgeous Scarab replicas and continuations. Their latest creation propels the all-American sports car into the next generation with a cutting-edge American power plant — the high-performance Model S EV driveline from Tesla. But there’s more to building a next-gen Scarab EV than sourcing a secondhand Tesla, as we’ll see.

By way of background, Scarab Motorsports offers several Scarab models, from exacting FIA certified and Meister Bräuser Edition Scarabs, to the road friendly Street Scarab, on which the new Scarab EV will be based. The Scarab EV will be based on a TIG welded 4130 chromoly chassis with a Winters quick-change rear end and C7 Corvette suspension uprights. Instead of Scarab Motorsports' conventional aluminum bodywork, the company is developing an all-new carbon fiber body for the next generation of Scarabs, built from high-strength 12K Toray T800SC carbon fiber. Larger diameter wheels and tires can be selected to suit each customer’s style, along with bigger, high-performance breaks.

But of course it’s the power figures that we’re most concerned with, and Scarab’s new EV should have no problem holding its own against its internal-combustion peers. The heart of the transformation is a Tesla Model S AC induction motor and Tesla battery package provided by EV West in San Marcos, California. Depending on the final battery configuration, Scarab Motorsports expects the equivalent of 450 hp or more from the package, and a minimum range of 250 miles (or more depending on your driving style). The Scarab crew is putting a conservative weight estimate of 2,700 pounds on the final car, but they’ve indicated that it could be significantly less than that. Considering the Model S drivetrain propels the 4,600-pound 2018 Telsa to 60 mph in 2.3 seconds, Scarab is putting a conservative estimate of sub 3 second 0-60 mph.

While it's loaded with new technology and features, Scarab Motorsports expects the new EV Scarab to come in very close to the list price of their street Scarab model.

With modern styling cues and foolproof electric performance, Scarab’s new EV should be another game-changing addition to the developing EV market from the replica industry. And when the first one sparks to life, you’ll see it here on RCN.

For more information, contact the folks at Scarab Motorsports:

www.scarabmotors.com \ 913/972-2189