SCAT 18-30 Torpedo Solaro

SCAT 18-30 Torpedo Solaro is an 18/30 HP model with bespoke bodywork by Solaro. It combines an SCAT mechanical basis with work by the Turin coachbuilder Carrozzeria Fratelli Solaro. The torpedo body is defined by its passenger-compartment treatment: folding occasional seats supplement a generously appointed rear seat, while a full transom encloses the seating and door area.

Solaro gave the body a form compared with a dual-cockpit wooden boat. The comparison centres on the broad transom, which passes around both the seats and the doors rather than ending at the rear as a conventional body panel. This wraparound treatment joins the passenger accommodation to the exterior form in a single volume. The rear seat sits within the curve of the transom, and the sweep of the body frames the occupants as well as the tail of the car.

The folding occasional seats form a second distinctive part of the interior arrangement. They work alongside the rear seat rather than replacing it, providing a flexible layout for passengers. The principal rear accommodation remains central to the body design, while the occasional seats extend its seating provision. Together, the seat arrangement and transom make the cabin as important to the Solaro body as its external line.

The full transom also establishes the connection with body forms later used on Isotta Fraschini chassis. On this SCAT, the treatment encloses the rear compartment in a continuous sweep around the doors and seats, rather than treating the body’s rear section as a separate appendage. Solaro applied this solution to the 18/30 HP model at a time when bespoke coachwork could give a chassis a strongly individual body form.

This example returned to public availability after many years. Its defining details remain the folding occasional seats, the substantial rear seat and the transom surrounding the passenger compartment. Solaro coachwork gives the torpedo its specific identity: the transom forms the tail, continues around the occupants and doors, and ties the seating area to the exterior profile. The body’s full transom, folding occasional seating and rear accommodation define the particular treatment applied to this SCAT 18/30 HP torpedo.

The wraparound transom remains the most recognisable element of the design. Its sweep around the seats and doors reinforces the wooden-boat comparison and places the rear accommodation within a continuous coachbuilt form. The SCAT chassis and Solaro bodywork are joined by this arrangement, which combines an open torpedo body with folding occasional seats and a carefully enclosed rear passenger area.

Carrozzeria Fratelli Solaro built the body around the SCAT 18/30 HP mechanical basis. The folding occasional seats, rear seat and full transom distinguish this Torpedo Solaro from a conventional open touring body. Its body treatment foreshadowed later forms used on Isotta Fraschini chassis while remaining specific to the SCAT and Solaro collaboration.