Once they got past the tiller and settled on the steering wheel, car designers came up with a lot of variations on the theme. Spindly, big, and delicate. Thick and meaty. Squircle (the sort-of affectionate name for whatever shape the C8 Corvette’s wheel is). Yokes, though those aren’t technically wheels.
Out of that wealth of variety, we all have our favourites. I was immediately smitten when I slid behind the Moto Lita wheel in this story’s opening photo. It was the helm of a beautiful Austin-Healey 3000, and it felt perfectly matched to that car’s personality – a bit weathered, but every bit a certain era’s definition of sporting. Here are a few of our team’s preferred steering wheels; let us know yours in the comments.
A Classic Look, and Functional
I’ve always had a soft spot for speedsters, and only after having the opportunity to put a lot of miles on one did I learn what a luxury it was to have a steering wheel that moves out of the way for driver entry and exit. While at the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance in 2018, the steering wheel of the 1923 Steyr Type VI Targa Florio Rennwagen caught my eye. It has a latch that allows the wheel to pivot out of the way, and the aged wood just looks great. There is nothing like driving a speedster, and this steering wheel really rounds out the experience. – Kyle Smith
TVR, Ever the Oddball
TVR built some of the wackiest cars of the 1990s and early 2000s, so it’s no surprise they designed some of the wackiest interiors, too. When it comes to steering, the coolest has to be the setup in the 1996–2006 Cerbera. The wheel itself is a leather-clad two-spoke affair with buttons for the windscreen wipers, lights, and horn flanking the big bolted-in TVR badge in the middle. Packed just underneath the wheel in a big, weird pod on the column are a clock, the starter button, the fuel gauge, and an adjustable air vent. None of this makes any sense, but it looks awesome. – Andrew Newton
Lagonda
Definitely the Aston Martin Lagonda Series I and II (1974–85). I assume this isn’t the first single-spoke steering wheel, but I fully expect it to be the only one of its kind upholstered in Rolls Royce–worthy leather, and connected to a surprisingly firm and buttoned-down steering and suspension system. The Lagonda just wasn’t the same car after its redesigned steering wheel in 1986, because like many designs, the first iteration was the best! – Sajeev Mehta
Momo
For overall aesthetic, I absolutely adore the simplicity of the Momo Prototipo. Really, just Momos in general – with a little dish to it or perfectly flat. I love the history behind the wheel, and I love the way it looks on just about anything. – Nathan Petroelje
One Busy, One Clean
I prefer the visual simplicity of a metal three-spoke, whether anodised in black or bare metal. That Austin-Healey wheel you see at the top of the page fits the bill perfectly – I love the contrast between its old-world wood and the glistening metal spokes. Nate’s Momo answer above is the right one, though – if there were one wheel that looked great in almost any setting, that’d be it. However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention these two: one for the novelty, the other for mass-production execution.
Young Eddy would pick 1980s and ’90s Pontiac button wheels. Buttons meant high-tech and accessing things on the fly while you were busy carving up the road in your Pontiac Excitement machine. They correctly predicted the future, even if their execution was way off. Adult Eddy likes the simplicity of the NB Mazda MX-5 Nardi wheel: Three spokes, a well-designed airbag, no buttons, and just the right thickness. – Eddy Eckart
No Spokes!
Much as I love the single-spoke Citroën wheels that I grew up with on my dad’s cars, it has to be the completely insane invisible hub of the Maserati Boomerang. Within the huge centre space were six gauges and some fairly critical switchgear. For decades it was simply the most futuristic steering wheel the world had ever seen. Bugatti seems to agree, having produced something very similar for the Tourbillon. – Nik Berg
Subaru’s Asymmetry
I was 10 years old when the Subaru XT hit the streets. I’ve only ever known one person who owned one, and I still remember riding my bike past their house one day and seeing this weird little pointy car in the driveway. So naturally I had to snoop around. The whole thing was funky, of course, but I was astounded when I put my face up to the driver’s side window and saw the wildest cockpit I’d ever seen in a car, anchored by that weird, wonderful cattywampus steering wheel with its hub occupying the lower right quarter of the circle. Humans crave symmetry, but sometimes it’s so refreshing to see things go off the rails in creative ways, and the XT’s steering wheel is a prime example of that. – Stefan Lombard
