MOMO & FERRARI – a lasting relationship

Momo wouldn’t be the same without Ferrari

Unfortunately, we can’t ask anyone today if they believed that John Surtees’ Formula 1 World Championship victory in 1964 in a Ferrari 158 F1 ultimately led to Momo’s success story and at the same time established the closest relationship in the history of the Momo company. I have to put it another way, in case it slipped through: Momo didn’t exist back then and would never have become what it is today without this collaboration.

Gianpiero Moretti and his beginnings

Gianpiero Moretti, who was a racing driver himself back then in the 1960s and he had a local craftsman make a steering wheel for his race car. It was slightly smaller but had a way thicker grip than all the other steering wheels available at that time. It did not last long and other racing drivers quickly became aware of the special steering wheel Gianpiero had in his race car. And even less before they asked him if he could make them a steering wheel like that too. That was the beginning of the Momo story. One of these drivers was John Surtees. After his success at the 1964 World Championships and a rather great attention on his steering wheel, Gianpiero turned his passion into a business and started MOMO – for Moretti Monza.

So not only did the story begin for Momo, but also for the ongoing relationship between Momo and Ferrari, by the way to this day and probably into the future as well. In the following years, Momo partnered with other car manufacturers as well, Porsche, Lotus, Maserati, Alfa Romeo but also brands like Alpina and Abarth, to name a few. But Ferrari always remained something very special, something exclusive, also in terms of the partnership. For example, special steering wheels as standard equipment, which were later also available in retail stores in order to expand the business and not to be dependent on manufacturers and racing successes. Often in a slightly modified version, sometimes just named differently.

Momo and Ferrari’s partnership extended well beyond racing, as said, Momo fitted steering wheels to a variety of road-going versions of Ferrari’s most successful models. Some of these steering wheels became icons far beyond Ferrari and became real bestsellers in retail. The scent of the wide world, of racing – it has never been so easy to build a bit of the world stage into, say, a Fiat. It was not uncommon for a few fans to attach a few small black and yellow horses at the same time.

Iconic Ferrari steering wheels made by Momo

Of course, many Ferrari fans first think of the legendary Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona steering wheel, the one with the many screw connections, 18 to be precise. Unfortunately I can’t show it, the one I held in my hands was in bad condition and reupholstered in poor quality, that didn’t make my collector’s heart beat. But there are a few others, the iconic 308 steering wheel for example, or that of the Ferrari Testarossa. The basic design for Ferrari road versions remained unchanged for a long time. From the Daytona to the Testarossa, apart from the fittings, the bold and at the same time design remained almost unchanged. 

The Ferrari 208 / 308 / 328 / 365 / 512 steering wheel by Momo

One of the icons of course is the 365mm Ferrari steering wheel made by Momo that was standard equipment in several but not all Ferrari 208, Ferrari 308, Ferrari 328, Ferrari 365 and Ferrari 512. It was available in black leather with either silver or black anodized spokes, had a diameter of 365mm and a thickness of 28mm. It was available in semi dish only from the mid 1970’s until 1979.