Moretti 500 Giardiniera

The Moretti 500 Giardiniera was presented at the 1958 Turin Auto Salon as Moretti’s own practical interpretation of the Fiat Nuova 500. It was not simply a stretched or re-bodied Fiat 500. Moretti attempted a much deeper transformation, turning Fiat’s small rear-engined city car into a more usable compact estate and van. The main problem was packaging. The standard Nuova 500 had its engine at the rear, exactly where a small load area would be most useful. Moretti, stubborn and inventive as ever, tried to solve the issue in the most radical way possible: he moved the engine to the front, rotated it 180 degrees, modified the gearbox, and effectively converted the 500 into a front-wheel-drive vehicle. For the late 1950s, this was an unusual and ambitious solution, especially for such a small independent manufacturer. The car still used the Fiat 500 twin-cylinder engine and some related mechanical components, but much of the engineering and construction was handled by Moretti in-house at its Turin factory in Via Monginevro. The conversion required new mechanical layouts, specific bodywork, and a structure capable of carrying both passengers and goods while retaining the compact dimensions of the original 500. Moretti developed the project through several body variants and mechanical evolutions. The Giardiniera version offered a small wagon-like rear compartment for luggage, shopping, or light commercial use. A van version was also produced, aimed at small businesses and urban delivery work. Both versions kept the friendly scale of the Nuova 500, but offered more practical space than Fiat’s standard car. The idea was clever, but it was also expensive. Moretti had created a technically complex solution to a problem that Fiat would solve more cheaply three years later. In 1960, Fiat introduced its own 500 Giardiniera, using the rear-mounted “sogliola” engine laid flat under the load floor. It preserved the rear-engine layout, cost less to build, and could be sold at a far lower price. For this reason, the Moretti 500 Giardiniera remained a rare and short-lived special.