Moretti
1925 - 1989
Moretti Motor Company is a now defunct automobile manufacturer formerly based in Italy. It was founded in 1925 and ceased operations in the mid-1980s. Today, many of its sportscar models can still be found at various European auto shows. During its existence though, Moretti Motors produced a variety of models at various times including motorcycles, microcars, and several commercial vehicle.
History
Motorcycle beginning
From 1934 on Giovanni Moretti was more known as a producer of small sports cars. His motorcycles were produced with Ladetto, DKW and JAP engines, mainly up to 250 cc. From 1946 on he also produced a few 125 and 250 OHC machines and even a 250 DOHC twin. These bikes were very advanced for their time which made them very expensive which forced that branch of the factory to close in 1952.
Only a photograph of the engine and a photo of the bike remains.
Moretti Motor Company was founded in 1925 by Giovanni Moretti in order to design and build motorcycles, both of his own design and with agreements with other companies. Using the same motorcycle engines, Giovanni Moretti also dabbled in microcars in the late 1920s and early 1930s. During World War II, Moretti found success constructing various commercial vehicle, most notably a range of electric powered small trucks and a 5 or 7 seat electric car. In 1946, with the war over and thus demand for their commercial vehicles wavering, Moretti began production of conventional cars.
The first conventional car model released by Moretti Motors was the 'Cita'. Shortly afterwards Moretti came out with the '600'. Then, in 1953, the '750' was released. Various versions of the '750' were built during the 1950s including estates, taxis, berlinas, coupes, single seat racing cars and commercial vehicles. Some competiive success was achieved in the 1950s with the 600 and 750 models.
A major shift in Moretti Motors' operations came in the latter part of the 1950s when they ceased designing and building complete cars. In an effort to reduce costs and overhead, the company switched to using Fiat mechanicals and chassis for all of its conventional automobiles. Despite offering a full range of model versions based on the '750' (saloon, coupe, spider, estate and more) though, Moretti was still unable to compete with Fiat's 600, which cost almost half the price and consequently dominated much of the marketplace. Mass production of all models were subsequently slashed due to continued low sales and financial struggles. However, thanks to the friendship between Giovanni Moretti and Gianni Agnelli, Moretti Motors was able to strike a favorable angreement with Fiat to continue using the Fiat chassis for a series of special/low volume models.
In 1967 Moretti produced only 2,600 cars, in 1973 only 3,292 were produced, and by 1974 production was down to only 1,071.
Later, as production continued to fall, Moretti turned to producing personalized conversions of various Fiats such as the Fiat Uno, Fiat Panda and Fiat Regata.
In the mid 1980s, the Moretti Motor Company officially ceased operations.
Models
1955 Moretti Barchetta 850cc
1955 Moretti Barchetta 850 cc
1955 Moretti Barchetta 1100cc
1955 Moretti Barchetta 1100cc
1955 Moretti 1200S Spyder
1955 Moretti 1200S Spyder
1960 Moretti 750 Coupe with body by Carrozzeria Michelotti
1960 Moretti 750 Coupe
1970 Moretti Coupe
Racing at the Targa Florio 1971 and Hill Climb.
1975 Moretti Minimax Convertible
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