1955 Moretti 1200

The Moretti Motor Company of Italy was founded by Giovanni Moretti and formed in 1925. It remained in business until the mid-1980s. The early years were spent designing and building motorcycles. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Moretti dabbled in microcars, later moving into commercial vehicles. In the post-War era, Moretti turned their attention to the production of conventional cars. Their first attempt was called the 'Cita,' soon followed by the '600.' In 1953, they introduced the '750'. The 750 was built in various versions throughout the 1950s including estates, taxis berlinas, coupes, single-seat racing cars, and commercial vehicles.

As the 1950s were coming to a close, Moretti Motors' operations began to shift, as they ceased designing and building complete cars. They switched to using Fiat mechanicals and chassis for all of their conventional automobiles. Unfortunately, even using Fiat components, Moretti was still unable to compete with Fiat's 600, which cost almost half the price and dominated the marketplace.

In 1967, Moretti produced 2,600 cars. In 1973, they produced 3,292. The following year, production fell to 1,071. With production down, Moretti tuned to producing personalized conversions of various Fiats such as the Uno, Panda, and Regata.

In 1989 Moretti produced ITAL UNO TURBO which was imported in limited numbers to the USA by M.I.K Automotive, Inc. in North Hollywood, California.

In the mid-1990s, Moretti Motor Company officially ceased operations.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jun 2011