New For 2026: The MOMO Prototipo Desert Steering Wheel
New from MOMO, in Sahara vintage leather
MOMO sent the trade announcement through this week, and for once it is not a colourway of something we already have three of. The Prototipo Desert is the 350mm Prototipo in a sand coloured distressed leather with brown anodised spokes, and it is the first wheel in the MOMO range we carry that is built around a tan interior instead of a black one.
That matters more than it sounds. Cameron gets asked what suits a biscuit or cognac interior often enough that it is a running joke, and until now the honest answer was a wood rim or nothing. Here is what MOMO have actually built, what it costs, and where it sits against the rest of the Prototipo range.
- A 350mm Prototipo in Sahara vintage leather with dark brown anodised spokes, part number VPRODESERT35R
- The geometry is unchanged: 350mm across, 39mm dish, 30 x 29mm round section rim
- Parallel sand stitching, tone on tone with the leather instead of contrasting against it
- The first brown spoked and first sand stitched wheel in the MOMO range we carry
- Handmade in Italy, 1.5kg, 12 month warranty, and it needs a hub kit like every MOMO wheel
What MOMO have actually changed
MOMO have not touched the bones of the wheel. The Desert is a 350mm Prototipo, with the 39mm dish and the round section rim that shape has carried since the 1960s, so it bolts up the same way and feels the same in your hands. What has changed is everything you look at.
The rim is wrapped in what MOMO call Sahara vintage leather, a naturally treated hide left with its grain and colour variation showing instead of being corrected flat. The three spokes are anodised a dark brown that reads almost bronze against it. The stitching is a parallel sand thread that sits tone on tone with the leather, so the seam disappears at arm’s length and only shows when you are close to it.
The MOMO logo on the spoke is milled and hand enamelled, and the horn button is the usual gloss black with the yellow arrow. Handmade in Italy, as the poster is keen to point out.
The leather is the whole point
A distressed hide is not a printed finish. The leather is treated to bring the grain up instead of levelling it out, so the rim already looks used when it arrives and no two are marked in quite the same way. It also means it ages in the direction it is already going, which is the opposite of a black leather rim where every shiny patch shows up as wear.
The stitching is the part people miss in photographs. On the standard Prototipo the thread contrasts and draws a line around the rim. Here it is a sand thread on a sand hide, so from the driving seat you see a plain rim and only pick the seam out when you are close.
Left, the parallel sand stitching running the length of the rim. Right, the etched prototipo box and the enamelled MOMO logo on the lower spoke, in the dark brown anodised finish.
The numbers
- Diameter 350mm, or 13.78 inches
- Dish 39mm, which puts it in the shallow dish band
- Rim section 30 x 29mm, the round Prototipo profile
- Three aluminium spokes, dark brown anodised, drilled
- Sahara vintage leather rim with parallel sand stitching
- Gloss black horn button with the yellow MOMO arrow
- Weight 1.5kg, handmade in Italy, 12 month warranty
- Part number VPRODESERT35R
Where it sits in the Prototipo range
MOMO’s own photography of the Desert, straight on and at an angle. The dish is the same 39mm as the Heritage Tobacco.
| Wheel | Diameter | Dish | Rim | Spokes | Price inc VAT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prototipo Desert | 350mm | 39mm | Sahara vintage leather | Brown anodised | £297.60 |
| Prototipo Heritage Tobacco | 350mm | 39mm | Tobacco brown leather | Silver | £297.60 |
| Prototipo Heritage | 350mm | 37mm | Black leather | Silver or black | £285.59 |
| Prototipo 350mm | 350mm | 37mm | Black leather | Silver or black | £261.59 |
| Prototipo Black Edition | 350mm | 39mm | Black leather | Black | £405.59 |
Prices as listed on the day of writing. The Desert and the Heritage Tobacco land on the same number because MOMO charge us the same for both.
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Those four are the brown and black ends of the same family, and there are more diameters and finishes in steering wheels. We went through how the whole range fits together in The MOMO Prototipo Family, which is worth ten minutes if you are choosing between diameters instead of colours.
Which interiors it actually suits
Garreth’s read is that this is a wheel for a specific job and it does that job better than anything else MOMO make. If your interior is black, the standard Prototipo is still the right wheel and the Desert will look like an accident. If it is biscuit, tan, cognac or any of the browns that came out of the 1970s, this is the first thing MOMO have built that matches it properly.
Air cooled Porsche interiors, older Alfa and Lancia cabins, tan trimmed Land Rovers and anything retrimmed in a light hide are the obvious homes. It also sits well in a car with a wood dash, where a black rim tends to fight the veneer.
You will need a hub
Like every MOMO wheel this one bolts to a hub kit, not to the column, and the hub is vehicle specific. We carry over a thousand of them in MOMO boss kits, and if you tell us the car and the year Cameron will tell you the part number.
One thing worth checking before you order: on a car with an airbag or a column mounted horn, the hub choice changes. It is a two minute phone call and it saves sending a hub back.
Common questions
Is the Desert a different shape from the standard Prototipo?
No. It is the same 350mm Prototipo geometry, the same 39mm dish and the same round section rim. Everything MOMO changed is in the materials and the finish.
Will the leather stay this colour?
A naturally treated distressed hide keeps moving. It darkens where your hands sit and the grain lifts further with use, which is the point of the finish. If you want a rim that looks the same in five years, a corrected black leather is the wheel to buy.
What is the difference between this and the Heritage Tobacco?
The Tobacco is a darker brown hide on silver spokes with brown stitching. The Desert is a much lighter sand hide on brown anodised spokes with sand stitching. Same diameter, same 39mm dish, same price.
Does it come with a horn button?
Yes, gloss black with the yellow MOMO arrow, and it is included. A hub kit is separate and is chosen by vehicle.
Is it FIA approved?
No, and no road going MOMO Prototipo is. It is a street and show wheel. If you need a homologated wheel for competition, ring us and we will point you at the right part.
Can I use my existing MOMO hub?
If it is a MOMO hub already fitted to the same car, yes. MOMO wheels share a standard six bolt pattern, so a hub that suits one MOMO wheel suits another.
A sand rim is a commitment and it either works with your trim or it does not. Send a picture through and Garreth or Cameron will tell you straight whether it lands, and which hub you need for the car. Ring 0115 9893488.
The full specification and our price are on the product page, and the hub is the only other part you need. If you want a second opinion on whether it suits your interior, that is what the phone is for.
