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?
This is being sold by Dennis Collin’s, 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.
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