Giovanni Moretti established his motorcycle manufacturing business in 1925 in Fabbrichetta, an area in the Grugliasco district, just to the west of Turin’s city centre. Though it was not long before he began to experiment with vehicles which would today be termed ‘microcars,’ the first Moretti recognisable as a conventional ‘car,’ the Cita, did not appear until ’46. Subsequently, an unusually wide and diverse range of models emerged. With the following decade came a model line utilising Moretti’s own 4 cylinder 747 cc engine, a development of the Cita’s 350 cc twin cylinder and ‘600’s’ 592 cc 4 cylinder power units . Although mainly known for his work for Alfa Romeo and Maserati, Ing. Alberto Massimino is thought to have been responsible for the design of this engine. Development soon resulted in a twin cam version, subsequently enhanced with additional main bearings, (5 in total), allowing a high rpm capability, opening up Moretti’s sport and racing ambitions, power output being a competitive 55-60 bhp, (twice that made by the original, single cam version. In competition barchetta applications, this engine was capable of over 70 bhp).
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| 750 Moretti Twin Cam engine. Courtesy VeloceToday |
Thinking about Moretti also brings to mind Tecno and its racing cars. Mostly the Etceterini were in effect modifiers of Fiat vehicles and parts. Both Moretti and Tecno were intent on designing/making everything for their products including the engines – and Tecno didn’t hesitate even when it came to the ‘need’ for something as complex and challenging as a Flat 12.
The ‘750’ would be utilised to power twelve Moretti
models from ’52 through to ’60 by which time the basis of new products and
ongoing production was switched to Fiat models in a methodology similar to that
adopted by Abarth after its split with Simca.
By far the most charismatic Moretti of the Fifties was the Gran Sport
Berlinetta. A range of introduction
dates have been suggested, but it is probably accurate to say that the model
was made only in the years ’53 and ’54.
In considering this model, it is useful to also refer to the barchetta
‘Sport,’ of similar configuration. Only
three of these were initially constructed, (with a further two in ’56 for Le
Mans). In comparison, the coupe’s
built-count is heady at around twenty!
Testifying to the esteem in which the model is held, no less than twelve
survivors are currently catalogued in the Moretti Registry,
(https://moretti-registry.com/ ).
The bodywork, styled by Giovanni Michelotti, sits on a
spaceframe chassis - not a backbone type as misreported elsewhere – constructed
with square section tubing. The body
itself has been said to have been made at Motto, but I have not seen any
certain confirmation of this, and the Carrozzeria’s badges are not evident on
the cars. The possible confusion may
result from a misunderstanding of the two similar company names. A proportion of Motto’s work was as a
subcontractor, including commissions from Vignale, the carrozzeria with which
Michelotti was associated from 1949 onwards.
Additionally, around the same date, Moretti created another coupe model,
differentiated by being powered by a ‘1200’ (1204 cc) version of the twin cam
engine. This model’s body is generally
accepted as having been Motto-built.
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| 750 Gran Sport chassis frame. Courtesy Karl Ludvigsen |
A wide range of values has been quoted for the kerb weight of the Gran Sport, all the way from 655 Kg down to 495 Kg. The latter figure is credible given the car’s size and the usually-given 0-60 mph time of around 11 seconds, (for the 57 bhp output version engine). For comparison, early versions of the Abarth 750 GT Zagato weighed a touch under 600 Kg and deployed about 47 bhp maximum power from the engine, enabling a 0-60 mph capability of around 17 seconds.
The earliest-produced car for which I have images is
#1037. This is the single recorded Gran
Sport with a Zagato body. The basic
outline of the car is similar to the Michelotti design as seen in the
illustration below:
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| Left: #1037, Gran Sport Zagato; right: Gran Sport #1293 |
Notable variations as seen in these photographs: nose
profile/intake aperture; bonnet panel; wheel openings; roofline; rear side
windows/C post; rear wings. (Note – the
grille in the front aperture of #1293 is customised in egg-crate style – a
horizontal slatted style is standard).
Some previous citations about this car attribute a single
cam engine, unlikely in my view with its apparent competition history. Source Picryl comments on a photograph of the
car starting the ‘54 Mille Miglia, “The Moretti Registry thinks this was the
only one, and that it was more recently owned by Stuart Schaller in the USA
before sold to Japan (seen in white/red at a Concours d'Elegance in Tokyo with
license plate "S85264 ROMA". They also claim that Elio Zagato raced
it early 1954.“ I have tried to verify
the latter claim, but without success.
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| #1037. Courtesy Carrozzieri-Italiani; Angelo Giambra II |
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#1037 on ’54 Mille
Miglia. Courtesy Cliff Reuter |
#1290 is a very well known Gran Sport on both sides of
the Atlantic. On the East Coast of
America, Max Hoffman established not only a business, but also an
interest-culture in European cars immediately after WWII. As his portfolio of agreements grew with
various manufacturers -notably Jaguar, Volkswagen, Porsche, Alfa Romeo,
Mercedes Benz and BMW – his business became highly profitable given the great
volume of cars distributed and retailed from the New York base. On the other coast, a garage proprietor/racer,
Ernie McAfee shared Hoffman’s interest in Europe’s more sporting automotive
products, though the scale of his vision was nothing like as heady. With a particular expertise in customisation
and liking for high performance – for example taking William Doheny’s Ferrari
121 4.4 LM Spider to a series of victories in ‘55/’56 – McAfee began to explore
opportunities to import lesser known Italian cars with competition potential,
notably OSCA, Siata and Moretti.
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| '56 McAfee advertisement. Courtesy HobbyDB |
Summed up, the Moretti Coupe is one of the most appealing
automobiles we’ve ever seen or driven.
Its few faults could easily be corrected by any enthusiast-owner and the
price is reasonable* for a custom bodied machine that can go out and bring home
a class H** win at any sports car event you can name.
*At the beginning of the article, mention was made that
the Moretti was twice the price of the other cars featuring in road test
reports that month – Volkswagen, Nash-Metropolitan and Austin A30. The retail price of $4200 for an
aluminium-bodied Gran Sport in ’54 has been quoted by Conceptcarz. **Class H was for 500-750 cc cars.
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| #1290. Courtesy Erik Fuller |
After a brief spell in Europe around ‘05, the car was sold at Monterey by RM Sotheby’s ex the Skip Barber Collection in ’16 for $132,000.
The next available chassis number, #1291, was assigned to
another Gran Sport which has spent time both in the U.S. and in Europe.
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| #1291. Courtesy Moretti Registry |
Restored around 2010, the car was repainted in a
near-maroon, darker red, and the condition of its engine and its interior was
considerably ‘improved,’ as seen below:
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| #1291. Courtesy Bonhams |
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| #1292. Courtesy Moretti Registry |
Another Gran Sport familiar to enthusiasts in the U.S. is
#1293.
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#1293. Karl
Ludvigsen on the 1998 Mille Miglia. Courtesy VeloceToday |
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| #1293 Whilst in England (‘80s/90s). Courtesy Moretti Registry |
Over a quarter of a century before Ludvigsen’s
acquisition, #1293 was just one half of deal McAfee made with Mrs Alejandro De
Tomaso, (then with the maiden name, Elizabeth Haskell, and liking to be known
by her middle name, Isabelle, she was of a very wealthy family and with a love
of fast cars, to the extent that she held a competition licence). McAfee supplied #1293 as a new vehicle to
Isabelle along with the similar specification #1294 – apparently, one for road
use, the other primarily as a racing car.
Various circumstances have led to the curious position
whereby each car nowadays runs with the other’s original engine. Furthermore, according to the Californian
dealer, Fantasy Junction, #1294’s current unit has been substantially modified
– in its description for sale of the car in circa ’08, the dealer stated: “This
car was recently restored by Butch Bucciarelli of Southern California with
vintage racing in mind. The motor was rebuilt and re-engineered with Carrillo
rods, billet Moldex crank, arias pistons, and Mazda Miata oil pump thus solving
a historical oil circulation issue with the 750 engine.“
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#1294 at
Walterboro, South Carolina, ’58. Courtesy Moretti Registry |
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#1294. Original chassis
plate, and, centre and right, as restored. Courtesy Moretti Registry
|
Noted in the Moretti Registry in 2017 as an exhibit in
the Autoworld Museum in Brussels, #1296 is another Gran Sport painted in
red/black. A YouTube video -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=X-u9mVVioFA – provides a 360°
view of the car on display in the Museum.
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#1296 at
Autoworld, Brussels. Courtesy Perico001 (Flikr)
|
The view of the car above emphasises the unusual
dimensional nature of the 15” wheel : body size ratio. Similarly notable is how narrow the tyres are
by contemporary standards, tending to undermine the impression of the car’s
performance capability from this viewpoint.
The ‘look’ is compounded by the relative lack of negative wheel offset,
(seen below on #1290).
 |
Courtesy Erik
Fuller |
Mirbach Schuttenbach is a dealer located at Anzing near
Munich. Its corporate ‘number plate’ is
attached to #1297 in the photograph below, date unknown. At some point the car apparently suffered
from some ‘blow-over’ repainting, with items such as the front grille and
window frames finishing up in the same overly-bright red hue. Captioned, ‘ex-Tanner, Fronrath and Noble,’
there are several photographs of the car in competition on the excellent Cliff
Reuter Etceterini website, but I have been unable to trace the specific races
events involved.
 |
| #1297. Courtesy Moretti Registry |
Ada Pace – also known as Sayonara – was Turin-born
race/hillclimb/rally driver active from the late 40s (initially on scooters)
through to ’64. She owned and raced a
Moretti 600 early in the 50s and the Moretti Registry has posted a photograph
of her at the wheel of #1298, as below.
The car was apparently destroyed long ago and further information about
it has not been discovered as yet.
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| #1298. Courtesy Moretti Registry |
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| #1332 at Montlhery, '54. Courtesy Maurice Louche |
An unusual feature of #1459 is its right hand drive
configuration. From late in the
production run – in ’54 – the car is also distinctive in its competition
history, appearing in the ’54 Tour de France and the ‘55 12 Hours of
Hyeres. In the first of those events, in
the hands of Ernest de Regibus, it was disqualified, while there is no detailed
information about the following year’s 12 hour race.
 |
| #1459 om '54 Tour de France |
21st century photographs of the car while it was still
located in France are posted on the Moretti Registry website, example
below. Apparently, it is now in Germany.
 |
| #1459. Courtesy Moretti Registry |
#1508 is another Gran Sport with some documented
competition history, including four hillclimbs in ’58. It is pictured below on display at the Museo
Mille Miglia, Brescia.
 |
#1508. Courtesy Pablo
Rivas (Facebook) |
#1508 is the latest known survivor by dint of its chassis
number. In ’54 a new series of ‘Gran
Sports’ began to emerge from the Moretti factory, this time equipped with a
1200 cc version of the 4 cylinder twin cam engine. By the beginning of the new decade a
transition was well underway, resulting in Moretti’s role changing from that of
a manufacturer to modifier/upgrader in contractual association with Fiat – an
arrangement eventually also adopted elsewhere, for example with BMW/Alpina and
Mercedes Benz/AMG.
Further points to ponder:
It may seem fairly obvious why Max Hoffman was moving so
many more imported cars in the U.S. than Ernie McAfee managed during his period
of activity trading as Ernie McAfee Engineering from the late '40s through to
April ’56, (when Ernie was killed at the Pebble Beach Roadway Course). However, a factor beyond his control was the
Moretti policy of requiring up-front payment amounting to 50% of the projected
purchase price before a car’s (built-to-order) manufacture was initiated. It is telling that McAfee did not vigorously
market the Gran Sport Moretti – he probably had enough leads/prospective
customers available to him, through networking on the West Coast
motorsport/custom car scene, relative to the time he could spare from his other
strands of business. Note his ‘56
advertisement below, in which no mention is made of the Moretti marque:
As with other small-scale, specialist Italian makers, a
lot of Moretti’s production could be thought of as ‘one-offs,’ as the
built-to-order process meant that only rarely were two cars exactly the same in
terms of detailed specification. At a
high level, there was the option to have a Gran Sport in either Stradale or
Competizione form. The latter would come
with an aluminium body and this accounts for the inconsistency seen across the
internet in published specification summaries, where the quoted kerb weight for
the model simply named as ‘750 Gran Sport’ is given, variously, as 494 Kg
(VeloceToday), 499 Kg (Sports Car Market), 520 Kg (Roarington), 544 Kg
(Conceptcarz), 562 Kg (AutoCatalog), 665 Kg (Auta 5P) and 667 (ZePerfs). Some of this may be the result of confusion
with the overtly race-purpose Grand Sport Barchetta model.
A similarly loosely defined situation applied also with
engine performance. Maximum output in
the model’s basic form was quoted as 51 bhp, the figure given in the Road &
Track road test of Harry Jones’s Gran Sport mentioned above. Not surprisingly, this resulted in the test’s
data including a 0-60 mph time of 15.5.seconds.
Elsewhere a 71 bhp peak was cited, presumably for a car in Competizione
form. Such examples would be capable of
a sub-10 seconds 0-60 mph time.
The Moretti 750 Gran Sport won a great deal of affection
and respect in the U.S., though this was mainly confined to the West
Coast. Without McAfee’s energetic
enthusiasm and with escalating pricing – reaching to $4,500 - from the factory, the 1200 failed to maintain
momentum in the Marque’s American presence.
However, the number of survivors is high considering the small number of
cars made and it’s clear that present day owners are more than happy to fund
expensive restorations and ongoing maintenance.
Auction-paid prices in excess of £100,000 in recent years seem to me
relatively modest for such a characterful and rare classic GT.
The Moretti Registry has been by far the most valuable resource in my researches and I'd like to thank originator, Fred, for all the excellent work he has put in to build the database and website. He has just advised me that Moretti will be featured at the 2025 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance on 17th August 2025 - a celebration of the Marque's 100th anniversary. Also, later this year, I'll be posting a survey of the Fiat Moretti Sportiva models
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