Scagliarini Motorsports this week announced the "504 Coupé Zagato Elaborata" project which is inspired by Zagato's Geneva Motor Show concept, and set to be built as a one-off in Italy on an Abarth 500 base, using a four-wheel-drive system adapted from the Panda. It has been commissioned by a customer in the Middle East.

However that drew a swift response from the Italian design firm: "Zagato intend to declare that there isn't any involvement at all regarding the Scagliarini 504 Coupé Zagato Elaborata," it said in a written statement yesterday. "The Milanese Atelier has been never approached by Scagliarini and neither contacts nor commercial initiatives took place at all. Due to the above reasons Zagato neither released any approval regarding this project and the Intellectual Property of the Fiat 500 Zagato, nor the use of the Zagato name and logo. In addition, no production tooling have been ever used to design the above Scagliarini. Zagato is taking all the needed legal actions for the purpose," the Zagato press release concluded.

That was followed by the first of two statements from Michael Salvarani, Managing Director of Scagliarini Motorsports, who said in a press release posted on Facebook: "We received a Google Alert this morning referencing an excerpt from a statement purported to be issued by Zagato Milano (CPP Milan Srl or SZ Design Srl) regarding our elaboration of the Fiat 500 Coupe Zagato. As of 7:00A MDT Scagliarini Motorsports has never received any communication from CPP Milan Srl or Zagato Milano regarding the Scagliarini 504 Coupè Zagato Elaborata. In addition, our review of Zagato Milano’s website at www.zagato.it, under both their Classic and Contemporary Collections, finds no press release corroborating the above excerpt. Unless we receive an official communication from Zagato Milano or their counsel, we will consider the statements above to be fabricated and not issued by the company. In an attempt to dispel what we consider at least rumour if not libel by the news agency publishing the purported statement, Scagliarini Motorsports is providing the following facts.

"On Sunday, July 24, 2011 at 1:08P MDT Scagliarini Motorsports contacted Zagato Milano requesting information on the status of the Fiat 500 Coupe Zagato. In the same communication Scagliarini Motorsports asked if there would be any opportunity for our company to collaborate on the car. There was no mention of the Elaborata in our communication to Zagato Milano, and to date, Scagliarini Motorsports has never received any reply to our inquiry. On Thursday, July 28, 2011, Scagliarini Motorsports issued a press release indicating that our company had received a commission to build our interpretation of the Fiat 500 Coupe Zagato. In that release the reader will find that Scagliarini Motorsports sought to have dialogue with Zagato Milano before giving the commission further consideration, which we attempted to initiate. In the same communication the reader will find that Scagliarini Motorsports suggested to its client that the construction of our elaboration be pursued through Zagato Milano. Scagliarini Motorsports stated in the its release that the company had no intent of constructing our interpretation, and that the Fiat 500 Coupe Zagato was Zagato Milano’s design. Based on review by counsel Scagliarini Motorsports decided to accept the commission requested by its client. On July 31, 2011, Scagliarini Motorsports issued a press release indicating that the company had accepted the commission to construct what the company now calls the Scagliarini 504 Coupè Zagato Elaborata. The Scagliarini 504 Coupé Zagato Elaborata is nothing more than an interpretation of the Fiat 500 Coupe Zagato by Zagato Milano. We do not consider the design to be our own, and in no way is the elaboration intended to usurp Zagato Milano’s design, or the beautiful heritage of this great Italian design house. Should the purported statement by Zagato Milano (CPP Milan Srl or SZ Design Srl) prove true, then Scagliarini Motorsports would be happy to honour any lawful request by Zagato Milano regarding their intellectual property. Construction of the Scagliarini 504czè is already underway, and we will produce the car for our client as promised for delivery in the fourth quarter. The hysteria that has been created by our elaboration of the Fiat 500 Coupe Zagato is not the type of exposure Scagliarini Motorsports seeks. As a show of our respect to a great man and the co-Founder of Abarth, effective immediately Scagliarini Motorsports has renamed its elaboration of the FIAT 500 Coupe Zagato to simply 504 Coupé Zagato Elaborata.

That was followed by another statement attributed to Salvarani two hours later that read: "The images of the Scagliarini 504 Coupé Zagato Elaborata are what we presented to our client. The images are nothing more than the Fiat 500 Coupe Zagato as appearing in the public domain, with a rear window filled, and changes to color hue and saturation. The images of the Scagliarini 504 Coupè Zagato Elaborata are not of the actual car. The Scagliarini 504czè is based on the Abarth 500 chassis with appropriate fascia and Abarth 17” wheels by OZ Racing. The images we released were purposeful as our client owns all intellectual property relating to the Scagliarini 500czè going forward. The only communication we are planning for the Elaborata will be after our delivery to the owner sometime in the fourth quarter."