The Moretti 750 Tour du Monte was a limited production sports coupe and convertible built in Italy in the late 1950s/early 1960s. At least 150 examples are thought to have been built, so they were rare when new and likely almost impossible to find today. Yet, this 1959 cabriolet has emerged into the daylight, showing its rough condition after sitting for who knows how long. Located in Wylie, Texas, this rusty project is available here on eBay, where the opening bid is $3,000 (no takers yet) with a $5,000 Buy It Now.
If you’re unfamiliar with these cars, that makes two of us. The name was derived from its engine size (748cc, single OHC 4-cylinder engine) and the French term, “Tour the World”. The vehicle was designed by Giovanni Michelotti instead of being a repurposed Fiat like some of the other Moretti cars. Production numbers for the drop-tops don’t seem to be known, but only 12 dozen coupes are thought to have been built. They are light little cars, coming in at around 1,000 lbs. when complete.
The seller doesn’t impart much in the way of history on this car. But considering its rarity, finding parts for it may be the biggest challenge. We don’t know anything about the mechanical health of this vehicle, but we’re guessing it’s not going to respond to the typical experiments. The body is in really rough condition, with rust everywhere, especially the floorboards, which look like Swiss cheese when up on a lift.
Would you attempt to save this car or assess what’s left that could be harvested? Or would you be better off finding a better example, which will not be easy? After all, how many of the small initial population are still floating around, especially in the U.S.? And it’s a car that no one else in your circle is likely to have.
750cc suggests Fiat-derived, but the MG-badged rockerbox suggests otherwise. Midget-sourced A-series?
You are correct. They were FIAT based.
I hac a great one in Italian butter cream with a maroon/chestnut top.
Not fast enough to pull the skin off of a rice pudding, but beautiful and well made
Not Fiat-based yet, later on they became a tuner of Fiats but up to the end of the ’50s they tried to compete and were the fourh largest Italian automaker. The 750 sedan was most of the couple thousand cars a year they made, in theory fitting between the Fiat 600 and 1100, but in practice they cost almost as much as the 1100. Still, they appeared in US foreign car buyers guides in this era.
No, it is NOT a Fiat derivative. All is specially designed and produced by Moretti. I have one.
You may find more info on the Moretti registry site: https://moretti-registry.com/html/moretti-registry.html#
Mine is #2923 – was in the same rough condition.
Nice restoration
This is being sold by Dennis Collins, who used to show up on the TV show Fast and Loud. I used to watch his YouTube channel where they’d go out and buy cars, they came across some really interesting cars but the show became repetitive, focusing on their high jinx instead of the cars.
Being so rare, someone needs to be really dedicated to its restoration to piece it back together. Whatever is missing or needs to be replaced is going to be nearly unobtainable and will likely to cost a fortune for international shipping. Anyone who thinks restoring a rusty Mopar will put you underwater financially will probably be in for a shock by how much further this car will likely be in the red. There will be two people that make money on this car, Dennis and the owner of the shop that works on this.
Steve R
Correct….his “what’s in the paint booth” is one of Dennis Coffee Talk things…..this one would look a lot better if it got taken to the booth !
P.S – both RR and DC went to the same school together here in Dallas….
Thanks for the background. A few years ago I saw a podcast where Joe Rogan interview Richard Rawlings, he wasn’t in self promotion/show mode and came cross as quite interesting, which I didn’t expect. I have a feeling Dennis might be the same way, but their YouTube channels have become unwatchable.
Steve R
Have I seen one before? No. And by the looks of that front end, I hope i never see one again. This car is not only too far gone, it’s too ugly to restore. I’d use it as a planter placed sideways
These cars seem to have the “Sabra/ SP250/Caravelle/Amphicar” fish look, and I’ve heard of Moretti motorcycles, seems fitting a car would be tried. Apparently, images show Moretti making some pretty classy cars, this wasn’t one of them. I read, not sure where the MG motor came from, but this car had a unique OHC 4 cylinder, of Morettis design, about 54 HP, but the car was only about 1500lbs. and not as slow as you might think. It had a claimed top speed of 93 mph(?), and 0-60 in 14.3, the 1/4 mile in about 20 seconds. I doubt you’d ever find an original motor, maybe “Italian Pickers” might find one.
I have restored such a car and still have it. It does NOT have tó do anything with Fiats. The engine is designed and made by Moretti, éven the brakes main cylinder is a Moretti production. Some parts from a Topolino or a Fiat 1100D or 500 may be used but generally you are either lucky to find parts or they have to be produced.
It was sold in the US as well but few survived. Mainly because they were rusting away fast and need proper maintenance, particularly oil change.
When ready they are fun card and certainly turné heads ön the street. But until then…
There’s more missing than present on this one. where would you find the taillights and rear bumper for this? You wouldn’t. And as stated earlier, the shipping costs to bring any parts here for this will quickly put you upside down in the car’s value. I’d pass.
Rear lights are from Fiat 1100. Bumpers… Also 1100D but has to be modified.
Taillights probably came from the Magneti Marelli utility parts catalog and the bumper just a piece of chrome C-channel but your point stands.
$3,000 …. $5,000 …..Oh, we could all afford to buy it, but then what? I’m guessing a conservative number for restoring it would be in the range of $150,000 to $300,000, and maybe you can afford to spend that on a car that might fetch $100,000 on sale, I can’t.. Take it to Amelia Island and Pebble Beach and pick up a ribbon or two, and you might get $250,000, but the odds are probably 1 in a 1,000.
Yeah, best put this back in the pasture from wence it came and buy something else.
Hagerty says a condition 3 would fetch $21,000, but that is a different car. There are repeated references to a roadster/convertible in all the major “For sale” websities, but none have photos, one said it was billious green, and two claimed it as a wreck on wheels.
I am going to revise my estimates…. Fullly restored, it might fetch $125,000, but to get there you are going to burn through a trunkfull of cash, probably closer to $400,000 to $500,000. And your 3D printer will be running overtime.
It hasn’t been on Bring a Trailer yet…..
Looks like the love child of an Aston Martin & Sunbeam Alpine…………lol
It looks more like a Daimler SP250.
Steve R
More a combination of the three, with a little Amphicar sprinkled in. I can also see a little S500, but then again, any of the little sports cars in the era would fit.
I like it, but it would be a tough go unless one has a fabrication shop.
Dennis Collins has now become the Gullwing Motors of the South.
I think I caught one catfishing in the Ohio River🍺
i think there 2 too many zeros on that price
The early Moretti cars were designed and built entirely in-house. In the late ’50s they started using Fiat components. This particular example probably had an MG engine transplanted. Here is a picture of one restored to Concourse condition.
What’s the problem with Italian steel? Seems like they build in an expiration date. Am I the only person that thinks this? Not a great looking car but have seen worse, I would assume with the weight it wasn’t a terrible performer.
No offense intended and I see this quite often but the term when referring to a vehicle restored to a high level is “concours”
I have owned a large number of limited production Italian cars over the years including 4 of these Tour du Mondes in coupe and spider form. These cars were built using a Moretti produced single overhead cam engine and many of the other mechanical components were done in-house as well keeping costs very high. They had interior fittings including steering wheels, instruments, and other hardware that had more in common with Ferrari and Maserati, than a tiny economy car would deserve. Their retail price was very high in relation to other (larger and better) cars of the period and it is difficult to understand how they sold any of these, especially here in the US. Evidently only 150 were produced. Moretti built some incredible cars, and many differnt models, but production numbers were always minimal. Here is a registry with photos. If you scroll down the page you can see some Tour du Monde photos including a couple of my old cars: https://moretti-registry.com/html/moretti-registry.html#