When putting together our rare car pieces we usually have a fair idea of what’s in store, a car we already know about, or know of.  This time we started out down one path and had to change tact half way through, so this isn't exactly a rare car entry, but a rare company entry.

Usually you'd associate low volume Italian cars with their famous prancing horse and raging bull brands, high end super cars and sports GTs.  Moretti came from a different angle, they approached the market via small coupes, the Gran Sport and the Cita.  Later they moved into more family oriented small cars, the 600, 720B and 750 all being fine examples.  All these cars were beautifully designed in the Italian tradition of smooth styling.  Moretti tried a number of different versions of their 750 platform, everything from racing cars to estates and commercial vehicles proving the platforms versatility.  Their real problem was not the quality of the cars but the cost, in the face of competition from Fiat, specifically the Fiat 600.

Ultimately it was Fiat the saved the Moretti name, by allowing them  to produce specials based on their cars, like the 500 Moretti Coupe or the fantastic 2500 Moretti SS.  This work continued all the way into the 1980s the last Moretti car being the Fiat Uno Moretti Folk from 1983.  In December 1989 the company ceased to exist.

Whilst Moretti isn't hugely well known the cars they did produce are really something special, perhaps their problem is that they were pitched too high for the families buying small cars and pitched too low for those that could afford Ferrari exclusivity.  However any company that leaves us with a car as pretty as the Fiat 850 Moretti Sportiva S2 (pictured above) deserves a special place in our hearts.

Michael Ward Photos on Flickr has some more Moretti pictures, which have graced the pages of the excellent Auto Italia magazine.

There is also a lot of information on the Moretti Registry including photos of all their models.