Rare Moretti racer owned by Joel and Rosa Stein
Joel Stein tells the story of his 1500 Sports Racer “Freccia d’Oro’:
Starting in 1949 and continuing through 1957, Moretti cars have had a long and exciting history of participation in the Mille Miglia. This car, a Moretti 1500 Freccia d’ Oro, is powered by a Moretti designed and built 1500cc 4-cylinder twin cam, twin plug, twin carburetor, and twin distributor motor. It has both body and tubular chassis by Moretti.
The four speed transmission is Fiat 1100. This car was one of three specially ordered and built in 1955-56 by Moretti for the 1500cc class by an Argentinean group who wanted to compete against Maserati 150S and OSCA 1500, among others. This is the third car of the three built, #001 went to Argentina and was never paid for, but destroyed/crashed; #002 and #003 were bought by the Trustee for Moretti’s bankruptcy as an independent constructor in the sixties.
Moretti survived several more years as a carrozzeria or body designer/coach builder, mostly for Fiat. The #002 was traded in the late sixties by the Trustee for a Renault Alpine 108 and has disappeared. The Trustee sold #003 to a lawyer from whom I bought the car. It is the only one known to exist.
After the Moretti factory closed, the man charged with selling the assets stored the car. The car was purchased from that liquidator, Sig. Nebbia Giacomo, in the most original condition imaginable. With the exception of new paint and engine rebuild, the car is in the same ready to race condition as it was when built. The car was first shown to the public in August 2000, at the Concorso Italiano in Pebble Beach, California. Joel D. Stein, D.O., F.A.A.O., F.A.O.A.S.M.
More Moretti pix
This 1957 Moretti Coupe belonged to a well-known Alfista in the late 1968s. Knowing this, how many of you immediately think, “Hey, he must be talking about Jim Steck?” If you did, more power to you; we have a hard time seeing Jim in this cute little Moretti, instead of behind the wheel of Bonnie, the 230+ mph Alfa Bonneville record holder or 4SFED, his incredible turbocharged “street” GTV.
Daniel Vitesse, who lives in Uruguay, has his work cut out for him with the restoration of the “slightly aged” Moretti shown below. Daniel’s other projects include a Fiat 1100 TV Coupe, a Topolino ( both on the Fiat page), and VW Hebmuller replicas that his company makes for enthusiasts like himself. We don’t usually post non-Italian cars, and the VW shown below doesn’t fit here,but you have to admit that a VW-Hebmuller replica is Non Originale. 
