Above: Posing with the Harry Jones Moretti are (left-to-right) Viola Jones, Pat McAfee (then wife of Jack McAfee), and Vi’s husband Harry Jones. Santa Barbara paddock, September 1954. Photo: John Edgar, Edgar Motorsport Archive
______________________________________________________________
By Pete Vack
From the Archives of VeloceToday
Thanks to Peter Vanlaw, William Edgar, Alex Vazeos, Rex McAfee, Cliff Reuter, John de Boer, Karl Ludvigsen and Cindy Meitle.
Road & Track, August 1954. The color photo is by photographer and journalist Bob Rolofson; the car, a Moretti Gran Sport—the archetypical “Baby Ferrari”. No doubt many more people saw this photo than would ever lay eyes on the actual car itself; few subjected to the cover photo or the reality would likely soon forget the sight. Even today, the car stirs the imagination.
There might be ten or twenty of these 748cc Michelotti-designed “Gran Sport” Morettis around. John de Boer lists ten known berlinettas (Gran Sport) but emphatically states that the list is far from complete and is constantly updated and there may well be only eight in existence today. Two are very well known and have clear provenances… chassis 1293s (ex-Ludvigsen) and 1294s (now owned by Alex Vazeos), and a third the Road & Track cover car, is featured here for the first time in competition.
Saving the Gran Sports
Karl Ludvigsen at the Mille Miglia in 1998 with Moretti GS#1293s. He found, restored and cared for the car for twenty years before selling it to Larry Auriana in 1998.
Karl Ludvigsen studied mechanical engineering at MIT. In addition to having an early appreciation of Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Tatra cars, he was also a student of Italian car design and owned the unique ex-Koster Maserati A6GCS for a period of time. When he saw Morettis compete in several events (one driven by Isabelle Haskell) in the summer of 1955, he was fascinated.
To Ludvigsen, the Moretti Gran Sport was art from both the design and engineering aspects, “a masterpiece of packaging.” Beautiful, relatively fast and exotic-the Gran Sport was a superb exercise in making the most out of the least. Along with Jarl de Boer (John’s father) on the West Coast, Ludvigsen was one of the first to try to find and save one of these diminutive coupes, purchasing 1293s in 1979 from enthusiast Gene Cesari. It took almost ten years to restore the Moretti. Ludvigsen put down his thoughts (which are quoted here) on the restoration in an article in the 1991 fall edition of Le Grandi Automobili. The full story of the car was first told in Automobile Magazine, August 1987 by this writer.
Moretti had a long history of manufacturing cars, but the bread and butter sedans, unusual in that they didn’t incorporate Fiat mechanicals, were the exact opposite of the Gran Sport series and the racing Spyders built in the mid 1950s. They did have in common a three main bearing barrel crankcase ala Offenhauser, which provided excellent rigidity. Racing versions often had five main bearings.
The full visual impact of the Michelotti design is best appreciated from this view of the Jones Moretti. This is a Bob Rolofson photo from the Jack McAfee Collection.
Beauty and performance
What set the Moretti Gran Sport apart from virtually every other under one liter effort was the Giovanni Michelotti body. Said Ludvisgsen, “The Moretti’s miniscule proportions were a challenge. Michelotti succeeded with a breakthrough: instead of the classic Italian three-view design, visualized in plan and profile, he created a rounded, plastic, sculptured shape that takes advantage of the ease with which a viewer can scan all perspectives of its forms.” One might apply the old adage, “There is not an unkind line to the design”. It works from any angle and from any perspective.
The fifteen inch wheels are a little aggressive, but that too was the style of the era as witnessed by the Zagato, Pinin Farina and Frua A6G 2000 Maseratis. Our lead photo, above, of Harry Jones, his wife Vi and a friend with the Moretti coupe is indicative of just how small the car was. The height was only 46 inches. Overall length measured 129.5 inches and the wheelbase was just over 6.5 feet. The package weighed in at only 1090 lbs.
CLICK HERE TO BECOME A VELOCETODAY PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER
While the diminutive size combined with artistry of Michelotti made the car a standout, its performance was amazing for any car, much less one of ¾ liter. The times recorded by Road & Track were: 0 to 30 in 5.3 seconds, 0-60 in 15.5. Third gear was good for about 70 mph and fourth would get you an honest 100 mph. The quarter mile was covered in 20.0 seconds. The times were slightly slower throughout the range than the new 1500cc Porsche coupe—same performance with half the displacement! Tempting, then to compare the performance of this baby Ferrari to the real deal. Phil Hill’s 212 Touring (which had lapped the field at Torrey Pines) was also tested by R&T in 1952. It would do 0-30 in 3.4 seconds, 0-60 in 7.05 seconds and the quarter mile in 15.5 seconds. However, the Moretti, belabored with 350 lbs of testers and equipment, was one of the smallest displacement cars ever tested; the Ferrari, ‘one of the fastest cars in the world’. Ludvigsen found that his car, equipped with a special engine and side draft Webers, got to 80 in third gear at only 6000 rpm. “At 80, it still surges forward when the throttle is pressed”, he reported. No wonder the car performed so well in Cal Club and SCCA class H events!
The ex-Isabelle Haskell Moretti Gran Sport, 1294s
Alex Vazeos’ 1294s. Baby Ferrari or not, there were few if any early 50’s Ferraris that were as perfectly sculpted as the Moretti. Wrote Ludvigsen: ‘It stands as one of the great classics of Michelotti’s oeuvre, perhaps his finest design—especially considering its diminutive size.’
Like Ludvigsen, Alex Vazeos has great taste in cars. His collection includes a Giaur, the ex-Jack Reuter Bandini, the Fiat Geburth as recently featured in VeloceToday, the ex-Vack Abarth 750 Zagato, an Abarth Record Monza, and an Abarth Simca Corsa. He has also been concentrating on Moretti, obtaining a Fiat Moretti Sportiva, a delicious 1200 Moretti Gran Sport, and now a Moretti 750 GS, s/n 1294s.
The Vazeos Moretti next to his Abarth 750 Zagato, once owned by the Editor.
The story of 1294s began when purchased by Isabelle Haskell who was known then for racing Siatas. (We are still trying to find out where she raced her Moretti during the 1954-55 timeframe. If anyone knows, please email us.) She in turn sold it to Bill Greer (who recently verified that it was previously owned by Haskell) of Tennessee, who let it go to Bill Clark (also of Tennessee) in about 1957.
Rolofson shot of the Jones Moretti engine, courtesy of Jack McAfee Collections. Note the downdraft Webers. The unique manifolds became unobtainium so most Morettis now use the sidedrafts.
From that point on it gained owners and shed parts including the engine, until found by Jarl de Boer in 1994. He also acquired engine 1293s. From there it went to “Butch” Bucciarelli, Ray Milo, Bruce Milner then to noted collector Tom Stegman. Vazeos bought it from Stegman in 2011.
Recently, a Moretti discovered by a Dutch collector was found with engine number 1294…which should be in the Vazeos car, chassis number 1294s. Instead, the Vazeos car has engine 1293, presumably the original engine from the Ludvigsen Moretti (Ludvigsen had an ultra-rare five main bearing engine built up for 1293s).
Engine in the Vazeos car was originally from the Ludvigsen car: both have side draft Webers in place of the original downdrafts; note cam driven distributor, note steering column.
Driving the 750 Gran Sport
Alex sent us his impression of the Moretti. “In my garage, the diminutive size is deceiving. However, when the car is taken out on the public roads, the sight is quite shocking. The car is so small, but at the same time perfectly proportioned and balanced, like a miniature Vignale Ferrari of the same vintage. Everyone instantly falls in love with it and it always draws a huge crowd.”
Interior of the Vazeos Moretti is race prepped.
The engine revs freely to its upper limit of 7000 rpm, and earplugs are advised. Like Ludvigsen Vazeos found the steering is vague, due to the rather unorthodox steering design that includes six ball joints. This was quickly overlooked as the combination of the high pitched engine combined with a Porsche GT3-like short shift gearbox makes every drive a memorable experience. “The racing clutch takes a while getting used to and it demands your full attention at all times, but this is the very essence of collecting such cars. They are an absolute joy to the eye and there is no way to ever see another one on the road. They are always challenging to drive and to live with.”
The Road & Track cover car
Now let’s return to the beginning of our story, with that provocative Road & Track cover. At the end of that road test, Bob Rolofson stated that the cover and test car was owned by Harry Jones. Harry and friends can be also seen in our lead photo. But who was Harry Jones?
Harry Jones with a bit of opposite lock at Santa Barbara in 1954. This is the R&T cover car.Photo: John Edgar, Edgar Motorsport Archive.
VeloceToday reader Peter Vanlaw writes, “I knew Harry and Violet quite well back in the mid 50s when I was going to UCLA and working for Jack McAfee after school. Since Harry was probably Jack’s closest friend, I would see him often both at Jack’s shop and at Harry’s, which was a custom body shop in Glendale. Vi was very involved in the Women’s Sports Car Club at that time.”
“Harry had been a gunner during WWII in B-17s I think. Whether or not he was trained as an aircraft mechanic as well, I don’t know. After the war, Harry’s business was known as “Rich & Jones Custom Body Shop”, where he and his partner Johnny Rich were highly regarded for their work. They did the original frame-up restoration on Phil Hill’s Pierce Arrow, long before Phil got into the restoration business himself.”
‘That’s Harry Jones and his 750cc Moretti, and behind it is my father’s #98 Ferrari 375 Plus (1954 Le Mans winner). That’s Jack McAfee behind the Ferrari, wearing his ‘John Edgar’ Ferrari jacket.’ said William Edgar. Note the new color of the Moretti, repainted according to his friend Peter Vanlaw. This photo was taken a year after the Santa Barbara event, Grand Central Airport in Glendale CA, 11-13-55. Photo courtesy Jack McAfee Collection.
But what about the Moretti?
“The photo above was of the same car as the Road & Track cover car, but with a different color scheme”, said Vanlaw. Harry painted it green and cream. He then sold me his old Cromwell helmet which he had painstakingly painted red and black, separated by a thin cream-colored stripe that matched the original Moretti paint job”.
The 1954 Moretti brochure for the Gran Sport and Barchetta.
Sites you must see:
Jack McAfee.com
Etceterini.com
Edgar Motorsport.com
Not the same Harry Jones who ran Le Mans in 1974-75 together with Marcel Mignot and Philippe Gurdjian in Daytona Group4. Picture on a web site of Le Mans team was clearly taken from the picture above,,,but he is also quoted as Dr Harry Jones from Ft Lauderdale and age does not seem to correspond,,and not necessary to be an MD or have a PhD to run a custom shop…
When living in Sonoma CA around 1986, I ventured into my neighbors dilapidated barn to find an engine that I was told cam from a Moretti sports car. As a fledgling Italian car enthusiast, I recognized the rarity of that small displacement engine, and did a little research. The cam , it was rumored, was so small in diameter that it was known for premature breakage. Actually, my memory of the engine is so foggy, It seems to me that there was only one cam, yet I see that these were DOHC units. I simply do not remember—yet I did acquire the engine, and promptly sold it to an other Italian car enthusiast. I hope that it found its home! Such a rare find would probably be a key to somebodies relentless search these days, yet it is only a foggy memory in the past now. I still am in contact with the owner of that barn, and could look into the story of the car it came from, if anybody is interested.
Pete
Have extensive file on Ms Haskell, but nothing showing Moretti,
Her 1st race was Mac Dill AFB in Florida, January 1953 with her
SIATA, 2nd one Bridgehampton in June. I finally met up with her
in Europe, she was just then married to de Tomaso, the Odd Couple.!
they co drove an OSCA.
faithfully
Jim Sitz
For Jim Simpson. I owned a Moretti 750 Tour du Monde spider for a couple of years and those cars did have a handsome little SOHC engine. That is likely what you saw.
Does anyone happen to know what happened to Harry Jones’ Morretti after Harry owned it? I should know since I was together regularly with Harry and Jack McAfee at the time. But if I did, I’ve long since forgotten. All I remember is the Harry continued racing small bore cars. From the Moretti he and Jim Troy built a Devin bodied Crosley that he raced in ’57 and/or ’58, and then he went on to a small bore Lotus 11.
I found two Moretti Tour du Mondes, a coupe and a spider with matching number engines in Fallbrook CA in the early 90s. Both cars are in my garage today awaiting resurrection.
Sorry, another new book (March 2015), if someone is interested in the whole story of Morretti:
Morretti, motociclette,automobili,carrozzerie
http://www.ilcammello.it/press/2015_02.html
200+ pages, 400+ photos…39.90 Euros..
Regards Michael
I believe there was a later article in Road & Track, probably authored by Karl Ludvigsen and featured as their Salon centrefold.
I remember that Aug., 1954, Road & Track issue very well. It was one of the first R & T’s I ever bought. I was still a student at UC Berkeley at the time. That issue sparked a life-long interest in sports cars. Even today, at age 82, I still do flagging at Sonoma Raceway 4-5 times a month. Somewhere,buried in a box in my garage, I think I still have that R & T issue!
I have all evidence on file that Mrs. Haskell was the original owner of my car (1294S). However, I have not found any evidence that she actually raced it in period.
Alex