The heavy body weighed 1,500 pounds, too much for its puny 47-hp motor
Giovanni Moretti founded his company in 1925, and started off designing and building motorcycles. The Cita, built in 1946, a tiny two-seater powered by an air-cooled 250-cc motor, was Moretti’s first conventional car.
In 1949, Moretti introduced the 600, a front-engine, rear-drive car powered by a bespoke 592 cc, water-cooled four-cylinder engine. Four years later, the 600’s chassis was lengthened and fitted with a 27-hp, SOHC, 748 cc motor, creating the Moretti 750.
A number of special versions of the 750 were produced in the 1950s, including a Zagato coupe, a sport Spider, and several barchettas. Some competition success was achieved in the 1950s with the 600 and 750 models.
By the late 1950s, Moretti began building cars using Fiat mechanicals and chassis. In 1957, a coupe based on the Fiat 500 appeared at the Turin Motor Show, followed the next year by a Fiat 600-based car. A number of other Fiat-based vehicles followed.
In 1965, the Sportiva emerged at the usual venue, the Turin Motor Show. It was based on the Fiat 850, powered by Fiat’s 47-hp, 843 cc engine and was clothed in a body which shared many lines with the Fiat Dino.
The striking and unusual Moretti Sportiva pictured here has been the subject of a cosmetic restoration, performed on a rust-free chassis and body. It is freshly finished in fly yellow with a new black interior piped in yellow. It has been fitted with new tires and brakes, and given a thorough mechanical service. It is said to run and drive very well, and offers the opportunity for a discerning enthusiast to own an unusual Italian exotic at a very reasonable price.