Moretti 750 Tour du Monde

[Dansk]

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd introduce myself here, since the knowledge base on this message board seems to be immense.

I'm the proud owner of a 1959 Moretti TdM coupe, serial number 2958. I found it in a barn near where I grew up, where it had been sitting since the late 70s. I'd had my eye on the car for years, and just this past summer (when the barn decided to collapse) I convinced the owner to sell it.



Years of raccoons and mice haven't been kind to it, but on the whole the car is in remarkably good shape. There's little rust and the body is generally pretty solid. After putting some oil in the cylinders the engine readily turns over by hand and seems to be complete. What sidelined it 35-40 years ago is a fairly simple problem: the starter was replaced with a closely matched Fiat one, which apparently didn't completely engage with the ring gear. Over time the incomplete mesh rounded the teeth on the ring gear, and now they don't make contact. Of all the things that COULD have gone wrong with the engine I suppose that's a relatively harmless one, (my worst fear was that it was seized), but it raises the question of how one goes about locating a ring gear and starter for a low-production hand-built Italian coupe.

Regardless, the question is academic at the moment as I don't have the money to attempt any repairs to the car. Hopefully in a year or two (fingers crossed) I'll be in a position to put the work into bringing it back to life. For now, I'm just happy to look at it!

[101/105guy]

Beautifull car and a very rare one !!
Repairs can wait, now that you have the car safely home. You might find that the easy fix for the ring gear is to find one (Fiat??) that is a close match to the TDM one and machine the flywheel to fit it. Then starters and ring gears will be easy in the future.
Randy

[dretceterini]

Moretti TDM coupes and conv'ts are not at a point yet, (as far as value is concerned) that anyone has started making repro parts. The best TDM coupe in the world is only worth about $15,000-$20,000 right now. It's the 750 twin cam cars (both racing spiders and coupes) from circa 1950 to 1954 that are worth big bucks (around $250,000) in Pebble Beach condition. Find a cheap machinist or learn to do the work yourself...

[FANALONE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dretceterini Moretti TDM coupes and conv'ts are not at a point yet, (as far as value is concerned) that anyone has started making repro parts. The best TDM coupe in the world is only worth about $15,000-$20,000 right now. It's the 750 twin cam cars (both racing spiders and coupes) from circa 1950 to 1954 that are worth big bucks (around $250,000) in Pebble Beach condition. Find a cheap machinist or learn to do the work yourself...

[Dansk]

I'm pretty sure the engine in the TdM is by Moretti, while the 1600 is all Fiat mechanicals. Part of the car's charm is also the most frustrating thing about it...

[dretceterini]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dansk I'm pretty sure the engine in the TdM is by Moretti, while the 1600 is all Fiat mechanicals. Part of the car's charm is also the most frustrating thing about it...

[Dansk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dretceterini Yes, the motor in the TDF is all Moretti, but it is the earlier 750cc twin cam cars that are worth the big bucks..

[dretceterini]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FANALONE it's possible that moretti could have used same parts as this other moretti model 1600GS

[FANALONE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dansk Hi everyone, I thought I'd introduce myself here, since the knowledge base on this message board seems to be immense. I'm the proud owner of a 1959 Moretti TdM coupe, serial number 2958. I found it in a barn near where I grew up, where it had been sitting since the late 70s. I'd had my eye on the car for years, and just this past summer (when the barn decided to collapse) I convinced the owner to sell it. Years of raccoons and mice haven't been kind to it, but on the whole the car is in remarkably good shape. There's little rust and the body is generally pretty solid. After putting some oil in the cylinders the engine readily turns over by hand and seems to be complete. What sidelined it 35-40 years ago is a fairly simple problem: the starter was replaced with a closely matched Fiat one, which apparently didn't completely engage with the ring gear. Over time the incomplete mesh rounded the teeth on the ring gear, and now they don't make contact. Of all the things that COULD have gone wrong with the engine I suppose that's a relatively harmless one, (my worst fear was that it was seized), but it raises the question of how one goes about locating a ring gear and starter for a low-production hand-built Italian coupe. Regardless, the question is academic at the moment as I don't have the money to attempt any repairs to the car. Hopefully in a year or two (fingers crossed) I'll be in a position to put the work into bringing it back to life. For now, I'm just happy to look at it!

[Dansk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FANALONE Cliff Reuter The Life Long Ferraristi And Now An Internet Marketing Expert Moretti Etceterini well here is a wed page that you could used for motibation

[NMMilano]

Nice car, and what is the green one?

[Dansk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NMMilano Nice car, and what is the green one?

[evannice]

Kevin,

That is a really interesting car in what appears to be very original condition. I love seeing history like that. Thanks for sharing, that's what makes this bulletin board the best!

[shaunpond]

Sometimes in this forum I'll see a thread on a rare or unusual car that I'me not familiar with, and then, soon after that, something similar will pop out of the woodwork.

So, in today's Craiglist:
will TRADE my 1959 Moretti 750 convertible for a collector car

No connection with the seller.

[Dansk]

I've seen that one advertised before, looks like the owner is having some problems finding a buyer. His price is pretty high, given the condition of the car, IMO.

Mind you, I'd LOVE to get my hands on a convertible 750....