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MOMO (company)
Encyclopedia
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
that makes accessories and parts for automobiles.
Company history
MOMO was founded by gentleman racer Giampiero MorettiGiampiero Moretti
Giampiero Moretti is a retired racing driver and the founder of the MOMO company in the 1960s.He is a former winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona, winning in 1998, driving a Ferrari 333SP with co-drivers Mauro Baldi, Arie Luyendyk and Didier Theys.- Notes :...
in the 1960s. MOMO are the initials for Moretti-Monza. Monza
Monza
Monza is a city and comune on the river Lambro, a tributary of the Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy some 15 km north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the Province of Monza and Brianza. It is best known for its Grand Prix motor racing circuit, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.On June...
is a region in the Province of Milan
Province of Milan
The Province of Milan : /) is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Milan. The provincial territory is highly urbanized, resulting in the third highest population density among the Italian provinces with more than 2,000 inhabitants/km2, just behind the provinces of...
.
In 1969 MOMO opened production plant in Tregnago
Tregnago
Tregnago is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 15 km northeast of Verona...
, Province of Verona
Province of Verona
The Province of Verona is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Verona.-Overview:The province has an area of 3,109 km², and a total population of 912,981...
. Due to increasing federal safety regulations and the wide adoption of airbag
Airbag
An Airbag is a vehicle safety device. It is an occupant restraint consisting of a flexible envelope designed to inflate rapidly during an automobile collision, to prevent occupants from striking interior objects such as the steering wheel or a window...
s in passenger vehicles MOMO was sold to Breed Technologies in 1996, a steering wheel airbag manufacturer. Breed Technologies was acquired by private equity firm Carlyle Management Group and merged with other OEM
Original Equipment Manufacturer
An original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, manufactures products or components that are purchased by a company and retailed under that purchasing company's brand name. OEM refers to the company that originally manufactured the product. When referring to automotive parts, OEM designates a...
automotive businesses they owned to form Key Safety Systems in 2003. Key Safety Systems sold the MOMO brand name to an Italian private equity group in 2006, but most of the manufacturing plants and technologies previously owned by MOMO were retained by Key Safety Systems.
Products
MOMO's product range includes consumer accessories such as steering wheels, gear shift knobs and alloy wheels, through to race equipment such as racing suits and helmets. MOMO airbagged steering wheels have become standard accessories on some regional SubaruSubaru
; is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries .Subaru is internationally known for their use of the boxer engine layout popularized in cars by the Volkswagen Beetle and Porsche 911, in most of their vehicles above 1500 cc as well as...
and Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi Motors
is a multinational automaker headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. In 2009 it was the fifth-largest Japan-based automaker and the 17th-largest in the world measured by production...
performance cars. MOMO steering wheels were standard features in the UMM Alter II
UMM Alter II
UMM Alter II Phase IIn 1986 the Alter II was released by the Portuguese automobile manufacturer União Metalo-Mecânica . It featured a new 4-speed manual gearbox, a new transfer case and a new suspension. The engine remained the same 2.5-litre diesel engine which developed 76 PS...
from 1987 to 1991. MOMO has also designed a steering wheel for computer peripheral company Logitech
Logitech
Logitech International S.A. is a global provider of personal peripherals for computers and other digital platforms headquartered in Romanel-sur-Morges, Switzerland. The company develops and markets products like peripheral devices for PCs, including keyboards, mice, microphones, game controllers...
(called the Logitech MOMO), to be used as a video game controller. Thomas Superwheel controllers (a brand of high-quality, premium priced controllers) also feature the MOMO name.
Motorsport involvement
The company sponsored many prototype cars in the IMSAInternational Motor Sports Association
The International Motor Sports Association is an American sports car auto racing sanctioning body based in Braselton, Georgia. It was started by John Bishop, a former employee of SCCA , and his wife Peggy in 1969 with help from Bill France, Sr...
WSC series
IMSA GT Championship
IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States and occasionally in Canada.-History:...
including the Ferrari 333 SP
Ferrari 333 SP
The Ferrari 333 SP was a sports prototype car built by Michelotto to World Sports Car regulations for Ferrari. Unveiled at the end of 1993, at the behest of amateur racer Giampiero Moretti , the 333 SP marked Ferrari's official return to sports car racing after a 20 year absence...
sports prototype car, after Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
had retired from that racing category 20 years earlier.
MOMO was the official steering wheel of the Champ Car
Champ Car
Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...
series from 2004 to 2007, before Champ Car merged to Indy Racing League. MOMO are also suppliers of the official steering wheel, racing seats, clothing and racing accessories of the Speedcar Series
Speedcar Series
The Speedcar Series Championship was a stock car racing series that was active from January 2008 to June 2009 across two championship seasons. Races were held across several countries, spanning the Middle East and Asia. It featured up to 24 drivers competing in identical V8 620 hp stock cars,...
.
MOMO also official steering wheel of Ferrari F430
Ferrari F430
The Ferrari F430 is a sports car that was produced by the Italian automaker Ferrari from 2004 to 2009, as a successor to the 360. It debuted at the 2004 Paris Motor Show...
.