Our weekly Prime Finds are usually cars that are ready to drive and enjoy, as well as – again, usually – coming in under a theoretical budget of £20,000, and hopefully we’ve unearthed a fair number of gems over the years that fulfil those criteria, sometimes with room to spare. Very occasionally we feature a car that while the asking price is under our budget, it may need work to make it a fine, road-going classic to enjoy, and that’s what this week’s find is.
With an asking price of €17,000, or c.£14,500, it sits well under our budget limit, and while it runs, it is going to need quite a bit spending on it to make it the special classic that it could undoubtedly become, but we’re confident that it will be worth it. Our Prime Find this time around is a small jewel of an Italian sports coupé, almost a mini-Ferrari, and one that there are very few examples of.
Back in the 1960’s and ‘70’s, Italian coachbuilders Automobili Stabilimenti Carrozzerie Moretti, or simply Moretti for short, took humble FIAT models and crafted exceptionally pretty coupé and roadster bodies for them that made them exceptionally desirable, as they still are today. We’ve featured the marque before – our own Søren Navntoft expressed his love and desire for the Moretti 850 Sportiva in the Spring of last year.
The object of Søren’s desire
Founded in 1925, Moretti was originally a manufacturer of motorcycles, then microcars and during WW2 small commercial vehicles, powered either by motorcycle engines or batteries. However, after the war ended, sales of their commercial vehicles fell away, and in 1946 the company decided to venture into building conventional cars.
By the late 1950’s, it became clear that they needed to reduce costs and made the decision to utilise chassis and mechanical components from FIAT, but the low volume and bespoke nature of the bodies meant prices were high and sales remained low.
Eventually, thanks to a special arrangement between company founder Govanni Moretti and FIAT head Gianni Agnelli and Moretti, the company began building low-volume coachbuilt coupés using FIAT 124, 125, 127, 128 and 132 chassis and engines, but even this wasn’t enough to boost sales, and Moretti made fewer and fewer cars, building just over 1,000 in 1974.
Attempts to fill ever-smaller niches using basic FIAT saloons such as the 127, Uno, Strada and Panda all failed to ignite sales and after several more years of struggle and decline, Moretti closed up shop in December 1989.
The very first piece I wrote for ViaRETRO back in May 2018 was a report on the Auto Italia Day at Brooklands, and among the many beautiful cars on display that day, I came across a small number of very pretty small – and one not so small – coupés that were entirely new to me. It turned out that these were Moretti’s, including a spectacular 2500SS based on FIAT’s 2300S coupé and their lovely coachbuilt curves belied their mundane mechanical underpinnings.
I’ve only seen a couple of Moretti’s since, and there’s a good reason for that – there were not so many produced in the first place, including just 52 of this model – and very few of those are to be found in the UK; indeed, “our” car is currently in The Netherlands.
And so we come neatly (this isn’t just thrown together, you know) to taking a closer look at our Prime Find, which is a late Series 1a Moretti 16GS based on the very rectilinear three-box FIAT 125 and that has had just two owners and covered only 16,830 warranted miles.
Introduced in 1967, the 16GS bore a strong resemblance to the FIAT Dino Spyder, which happens to be one of the most gorgeous cars ever made. The top half of the car doesn’t work quite so well, but it’s by no means ugly. The styling was revised in 1971, losing some of that resemblance by featuring square headlamps, but was still a lovely looking car.
Spot the similarity
Customers could order the car with either the FIAT 125’s standard engine, or the pokier 125S, which is what our car has. Although based on a four-seater saloon, the coupé is a tight 2+2, really a two-seater with some space behind the seats for bags.
A Moretti of any kind is a rare beast in itself; this one was built in 1971 but first registered in 1972 in Jo’burg, South Africa and is right-hand-drive, making it even more uncommon – perhaps limiting its appeal in Europe, but for an interested UK (or indeed Australian, Japanese, Hong Kong, Indian…there are still plenty of countries where they drive on the left) buyer, a major advantage.
It’s advertised as a full restoration project, but seems to be far from a basket case, as it is claimed to be in running order, has had a number of parts replaced and that it sifts neatly through its five forward gears. Having said that, it hasn’t had a service since 2005…
The interior is claimed to be in very original and good condition, so even though it would benefit from restoration, everything is present and correct and therefore a solid base to work on. This is also said to be true of the exterior – according to the advert, the car presents well in that the body is “solid and straight” with the odd scuff and dent, but the paintwork has cracks and is generally in need of work. The photos we have borrowed from the dealer’s advert seem to back up their claims.
The car was apparently originally finished in a pale metallic blue, which I have to say I think would suit this pretty car a lot better than the current pale gold. The most obvious problem with the exterior is the lack of a windscreen; the original was broken in 1977 and as a result of the owner finding it difficult to get a replacement, the car has barely been driven since, which is why its mileage is so low.
Under the cracked paint of the bonnet is FIAT’s “Lampredi” 1.6-litre twin cam, which was a pretty lively unit, producing 99bhp, enough to propel this little coupé to a claimed maximum speed of 109mph, not too shabby.
This Moretti’s originality continues with the wheels, smart 13-inch “Ruspa” alloys that were an optional extra at the time.
Since the mechanical aspects of the Moretti are from standard FIAT’s, parts availability should be reasonable; it’ll be the body panels that would be a headache to source (and in this case, a windscreen), but if this example is in as sound condition as the dealer claims, it shouldn’t need any new panels, just have the existing ones refurbed.
In terms of documentation, the car comes with the original sales receipt and registration and a large number of other receipts and documents, providing a reasonably solid if incomplete history.
I can find only one restored Moretti coupé for sale at the moment – a Sportiva SS in Germany, which carries an asking price of €79,000, so if that were to apply to this car, that suggests plenty of headroom for restoration costs. With so few of this particular model made, it represents a rare opportunity to acquire a very different kind of FIAT, and as a base for restoration, seems remarkably solid so might not cost more than a small – rather than large – fortune to bring it back to its former glory. These are very appealing cars, and I can see this example making someone very happy indeed.
You can see the full dealer advert here, and as always, we recommend interested parties arrange an inspection beforehand if possible.
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us be inspired by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.