Norev 1:18 Fiat Bartoletti 306/2 Transporter w/Two Ferrari Racing Cars

This race car set comprises of 

1 Fiat Bartoletti 306/2 car hauler

1 1958 Ferrari Dino 246 Formula 1 winner of French Grand Prix

1 1961 Ferrari 156 Shark nose Formula 1 Frenc Grand Prix

It was once viewed as any other transporter—earning double takes only because of the precious cargo stacked on its double-decker beds—but today the Fiat Bartoletti Tipo 306/2 is a gravity well of attention at any classic car event it attends, whether in the paddocks of Laguna Seca or the Nürburgring, where I got a chance to view it in detail both on and off track.

Also known as the Scarab or the Shelby Transporter, this custom-built hauler was eyewitness to several significant moments in motorsport history. Being active for almost three decades from the beginning of the 1960s to the end of the ‘80s has left this transporter with a very unique history in the sport that it never directly participated in.

The history of the Bartoletti company can be traced back to 1873, when Ermenegildo Bartoletti founded a workshop to build carriages and chariots. The small operation grew into a factory, which was then completely destroyed during WWII, and then later became a big player in the commercial vehicles market with the support of the state. In the paddocks of the post-war era, Carozzeria Bartoletti became known by the transporters it built for Ferrari and Maserati in the late 1950s. At its peak, almost 1,000 people worked in the factory only about an hour’s drive away from Modena, in Forli.

Some sources mention that the Bartoletti designed for Scarab is a sister to the Ferrari and Maserati transporters, but are based on truck undercarriages and mechanicals, while the Scarab hauler is based on Fiat’s Tipo 306/2 “alpine” bus chassis, which was launched in 1959 as the second generation of the Tipo 306.