In its creation, the team of Abarth engineers and designers drew inspiration from the 1964 model, the “Cinquino” tuned up as a 695 Esseesse with its displacement raised to 690 cc and 38 hp so it could achieve 140 km/h, designed for everyday use and as a sporty city car, but aimed at those who were seeking the best performance on everyday roads, and produced in only 1,000 units. In addition, the “mean little Scorpion” stood out for its distinctive badges with the monogram ""SS"" in capital letters on the bonnet and ""esseesse"", all in lower case on the dashboard. And it was immediately a success for fans of Italian sportiness.

In the design of the new Abarth 695 Esseesse, the goal was to improve performance further in terms of acceleration and handling. The research therefore drove at a reduction in weight, a different balance and attention to the aerodynamics. As well as marking out the new 695 Esseesse from an aesthetic point of view, the new doubly hunched aluminum bonnet reduces the weight by 25% compared to a normal bonnet, and combined with the adoption of the Akrapovič exhaust and other targeted interventions, has reduced the car’s overall weight by 10 kg compared to an Abarth 595 Competizione. This distinctive feature is joined in the rear by the “Spoiler ad Assetto Variabile”. As well as marking out its style, all these elements have improved performance, for example: on the quarter-mile (400 m), the 695 Esseesse manages to reach the finish line 1/10th of a second faster than the Competizione version.