Retro themed 97 Montego Blue Roadster

[oldgrayleather]

Unlike with other car parts, finding a steering wheel that I thought looked nice or special proved to be difficult. I felt there was nothing that really stood out(in saying that, there are a lot more steering wheel brands/models out there that I haven’t seen)! I had been looking for a black wheel with preferably polished spokes of some kind but once I came across Pete/Oldgrayleather's instagram which showed his car rocking a Momo x Porsche Design steering wheel, I realised I had to have one.

It would be an injustice to own such a special wheel without knowing its backstory. So what’s the story? In the late 80’s, Porsche Design did everything from watches to eyeglasses to wallets. As the name of the wheel suggests, Momo and Porsche Design ended up collaborating sometime in the 80’s to come up with this piece of art. Research indicates that 450 were made in total so it does fall in the rare category, but still very much attainable. Aside from the unique spoke design, the other design criteria Porsche Design had in mind was to construct a wheel with no visible stitching! This makes the wheel incredibly nice to hold. I believe they did this by having the leather glued on to the wheel, probably costly if I was to ever repair/restore! Fortunately this one is in pretty good nick for its age so I don’t need to worry about that.

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Congrats on finding such a nice example, many are missing the horn button (not a standard fit Momo) or the crash pad.

Porsche Design was created by the grandson of the original founder (F.A. Porsche or Butzi, the grandson of the founder). They still exist today but IMHO their heyday were the early years where they were really pushing the design envelope. The first titanium watch and having IWC create the mechanicals. Their sunglasses were made by Carrera and they innovated with design (folding, easily replaceable lenses), materials (the same leather process as the steering wheel for nose pads and arm ends) and exquisite aniline died leather goods. Do yourself a favor and don't go down that rabbit hole ;)

Funny that you spotted the wheel on IG as I had only guessed you saw it here in my build thread.