One of Italy’s many small car manufacturers, who have long since locked their doors, in 1967 made what I would call a quite heart-melting stroke of genius: they unleashed an incredibly delicious little creature onto the roads of northern Italy.
Some of Moretti’s creations were, to put it mildly, not very handsome. However, I would like to help the proud Moretti name a little, because although many of the redesigns the factory had agreed with Fiat to make were – let’s say it nicely – of a more exotic and interesting nature, they were actually able to to create extremely beautiful cars. In 1967, a small sports car was manufactured based on Fiat’s popular 850 model. The original structure was retained with a rear mounted engine and the undercarriage was virtually identical to the small Fiat. The bodywork design, on the other hand, was significantly changed and demonstrated Moretti’s genius.
For the task, they had contacted the Swiss designer Dany Brawand. He had previously drawn his folds and strokes for Michelotti. He let the front of his little coupé share the very same curvy shapes of the front fenders with Pininfarina’s gorgeous and sensual Fiat Dino Spider. History says that Brawand had designed the Sportiva nine months earlier than Pininfarina, but that is more rumour than fact.
The Moretti Sportiva Coupé was a straight out two-seater. The front trunk was completely occupied by a spare wheel and therefore a small rear seat had to give way to an important area for luggage. The small number of cars built in the period 1967 to 1971 were almost all built to the individual specifications and wishes of customers. In the standard version, however, the compact 843 cc four-cylinder engine producing just under a modest 50 horsepower was always available. There were several different tuning kits ready on the shelves and the small Fiat engine was willing to be bored out so that more power could be brought to the car – which looked faster than the actual underpinnings. The rest of the engineering in the car was pretty much identical to Fiat’s standard 850 coupe and offered pretty good driving characteristics.
Moretti’s 850 Sportiva was priced at the high end, and Giovanni Moretti once said that only about 40 cars were built – and today it is believed that only half have survived. So it is a rare car. But what a design, and it really is a car that stimulates my obsession with owning one. And quite frankly, I’d say it’s one of the most successful car designs I’ve seen – ever. Red rarely does anything bad to cars with Italian style and temperament, but the gray beige color below and the rims chosen make this 850 Sportiva completely irresistible – don’t you agree?
