Under the radar Abarth horn buttons
Stand out of the crowd with Abarth horn buttons
Abarth horn buttons are apparently like the little sisters of Momo horn buttons. At the same time, however, the variety seems to be greater and it does not follow any specific rules as far as age is concerned. There aren’t the classic generations like Momo, but there is a distinction between the time before the mid-1970s and after. So chrome ring and after that, horn buttons with the black plastic ring. Just like the steering wheels, Momo did not manufacture all of the Abarth horn buttons.
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In old magazines you won’t find much about the Abarth horn buttons, advertisements with pictures are in fact very often still black and white, which is not very helpful either. Most adverts show the Abarth horn button with the checkered flag and silver scorpion in the blue, yellow and red crest. If I can believe my records, over time most Abarth horn buttons I’ve had have been of this style. The design dates back to 1967 when this model was introduced together with the first design of the Abarth Rally steering wheel.
early style Abarth horn button made by Momo
early style Momo production Abarth horn button
Abarth advertisement
Abarth advertisement
Early chrome ring horn buttons vs. later black plastic ring horn buttons
Just like the Momo horn buttons, the Abarth horn buttons had a chrome ring first, from 1967 until the mid-1970s and changed to a black plastic ring around the button at the same time as Momo did – even though, I want to reiterate that not all Abarth horn buttons are made by Momo. The early chrome ring Abarth buttons came in various colors, most well known are the yellow/red, light red, dark red, dark blue and black ones.
early chrome ring Abarth yellow-red horn button
early chrome ring Abarth light red horn button
early chrome ring Abarth dark red horn button
early chrome ring Abarth black horn button
later style plastic ring Abarth horn button
later style plastic ring Abarth Lusso horn button
Plenty of fake Abarth horn buttons
In over 20 years of collecting steering wheels and horn buttons I have come across more knock off Abarth horn buttons than all other brands combined. You have to let that melt in your mouth: especially because Abarth is more for the aficionados, not necessarily for the big crowd. And how do you recognize the imitations? Quite simply – a look at the back reveals a lot. As a little orientation, here are some real backs of original Abarth horn buttons if they’re not made by Momo. And if they look like these ones below, then the ones in your hands are legit. There could of course be others. If you have any doubts, feel free to contact me!
