The good news is that you have a very late Mk1 (Berkley).
The steering wheel you have was standard for ths model, but not specific to the Berkley. That sort of Momo was standard to the late iS cars (and most Eunos Roadsters of that age).
The late models with the bent stalks are setup to take an airbag.
Mazda first fitted airbags to US models in 89; these cars had bent stalks. From 1991, Mazda started to offer airbags in other markets, again, these cars had bent stalks, while non-airbagged cars kept with straight stalks.
In late 1995, Mazda simplified things by making all MX5s bent stalk. But that meant all cars got a spacer plate on the steering column Airbagged cars had a thick spacer, I suppose to do with making sure the airbag didn’t take your head off.
Non-airbagged cars, to compensate for this spacer, had an eccentiric hub; the centre is offset. So when people swap the steering wheel in these cars, they are surprised that the new wheel rubs on their legs.
You can remove the spacer, and get a few more mms, might be enough.
I removed the plate on my 96, when replacing the very same Momo with a Nardi Classico.
To start
If you decide to remove the wheel, the rubber cover unpeels from behind. Here you can see how much off centre is the boss
Removed
To get to the spacer, you need to removethe trim under the steering wheel (2 screws), and look up
On mine the spacer had blue wire wrapped around it.
Removed, steering column falls on your head (it doesn’t go far, as it snags on the loom), refit the bolts
Spacer
With the spacer in place, and a standard Nardi hub, wheel rubs on leg (I’m average height 5’11")
With the spacer removed
Another view of the spacer, or shim plate
In this photo of a LHD Miata, with the dash removed, you can see the shim/spacer plate
And on this early RHD car, no spacer
In the two steering columns, the “airbag” version has a pin that engages with the spacer. On non-air cars which have it, it has no function. I removed the shim about 10 years ago. No issues.
Should stay if you attach a standard hub, the factory version rubs against the plastic shroud, so you need to sand a bit of plastic off.
