Moretti Midimaxi History

When Fiat launched the front-wheel-drive 127 in 1971, Moretti rapidly produced the Midimaxi — a mini off-roader and beach car on the 127's platform. The new front-wheel-drive layout gave the Midimaxi a very different character from the rear-engined Minimaxi, with better traction for light off-road use.

The Midimaxi sat in the growing 1970s Italian market for small leisure vehicles — a category that also attracted Savio, Fissore, and others building on Fiat mechanicals. It proved a long-runner, updated across successive series (a third series appeared in 1983 on the latest 127) and staying in the range into the mid-1980s. Alongside it Moretti launched the Paguro, a stretched 127-based pickup and van, in 1977, continuing the theme of Fiat-platform utility and leisure vehicles that would define the company's final decade.