NFL player Jimmy Graham’s

“Safari” 1984 Porsche 911 Carrera at SEMA

MOMO (MOretti MOnza) was founded in 1964 after racer Gianpiero Moretti had a local craftsman make a custom steering wheel for his racing car. The new MOMO steering wheel caught the attention of Ferrari Formula One driver, John Surtees, who wanted to mount it on his single-seater car, and the MOMO company was born. In the years since  years MOMO added seats, safety harnesses, road wheels and tires to their product line.

The MOMO booth at the 2019 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) showed off a Kelly-Moss Road & Race shop built matte black 1982 Porsche 911 3.2- liter Carrera “Safari” owned by the NFL Green Bay Packers tight end Jimmy Graham (38- in your programs).  

A 911 “Safari” build such as this one evokes the styling cues of the 1984 Dakar Rally winning Porsche 953, and Graham’s car uses MOMO equipment throughout.  

Inside the 911, Graham grips a 10-inch MOMO Prototipo steering wheel while seated in MOMO Super Cup seats held in place by MOMO six-point racing harness.

The Porsche rides on MOMO Heritage Six wheels shod with MOMO M-Trail M8 AT tires. The six-spoke wheels are made using revolutionary dual-way flow forming process that creates a rim area with similar strength and impact ratings to forged wheels with a 15% weight reduction over alloy wheels through a unique combination of heat, pressure and rotation.

The all-new MOMO M-TRAIL M8 AT is a versatile and rugged all-terrain tire designed to handle on and off-road adventures with a tread pattern that utilizes step block edges to provide biting grip in rough terrain and complex siping for enhanced traction in inclement weather.

All photos by the author

Everyone loves a Nomad -today

 

 

 

This understated 1955 Chevy Bel Air Nomad mild custom drew a lot of attention at the 2107 "Autos of Alamo" car show.

1955 Nomad wasn't the first two-door station wagon that honor goes to the 1950 Ford Country Squire wagon, but it groundbreaking with styling that copied the Chevrolet hardtop sedan. The Nomad traced its origins back to the 1954 General Motor Motorama  "Dream Car" car of the same name.

Although today we look back upon this 2-door design as iconic, sales of the Nomad the most expensive car in the Chevrolet showroom ($2571 in 1955), never met expectations.  Introduced four months into the 1955 model year there were 8,386 1955 Nomads produced, but full-year sales totals actually dropped in 1956 to 7,886 units and dropped again in 1957 with just 6,100 Nomads sold. Future Chevrolet Nomads were four doors, except for the short-lived 1976 Vega Nomad wagon.

The Pontiac Division of General Motors shared the same body and sold it as the Safari wagon. The Safari was even more expensive that the Nomad with a list price of approximately $500 more and Safari sales were less than half those of the Nomad for the same three model years 1955-1957. After 1957 Pontiac Safari wagon featured a four-door body design.  

All photographs by the author

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