Moretti 750 Gran Sport History

Giovanni Moretti wanted to build serious sports cars for competition and the company's own 750 cc straight-four engine was its vehicle to the top of the 750 cc class in Italian racing. The Gran Sport arrived for 1953 alongside the more basic 750 Sport, sharing the same twin-overhead-camshaft four-cylinder but in lighter, purer form — fewer than 25 Gran Sports were built across the run.

Typically bodied in hand-formed aluminium, the Gran Sport was offered as either a barchetta (open spider) or a Michelotti-designed berlinetta. The twin-cam engine produced around 58–60 bhp at 7,000 rpm from just 750 cc, giving the featherweight car a top speed of approximately 160 km/h (100 mph). The tubular chassis was fabricated in Turin using the city's rich network of specialist ateliers.

Moretti entered cars in the Mille Miglia and contested the 1956 24 Hours of Le Mans, though neither Le Mans entry finished. The 750 Gran Sport earned Moretti its lasting reputation among Italian sports-car connoisseurs and is today among the most sought-after of the post-war Italian 'etceterini' — the small independent sports-car makers that flourished in 1950s Italy.