Beloved steering wheel
10/29/2016
When you buy a car today, it hardly ever occurs to you to replace the steering wheel, thanks to airbags and button controls. The manufacturer may even offer two or three different steering wheels to choose from in a new car, but that's it.
It used to be different 30 or 40 years ago. Back then, the new car was equipped with the steering wheel provided by the manufacturer, and if you didn't like it, you looked for an alternative on the aftermarket. Raid, Momo, Nardi or Moto Lita were manufacturers who were happy to offer a nicer, sportier or differently dimensioned replacement steering wheel, supplemented by an intermediate piece that fitted between the steering column and the steering wheel and was vehicle-specific.
Of course, you could not only change the steering wheel on a new car, but also on a used car. When I was able to buy my first own car, I immediately fitted a smaller Momo sports steering wheel with a leather cover, which replaced the comparatively non-slip standard part in the Alfasud. And when I sold the Alfasud again, the steering wheel didn't go with it, of course, but was carried over to the next car, fittingly another Alfa Romeo. When this car also had to go, the same thing happened again. Once again, the sports steering wheel was removed and the original installed. After loosening a few screws, this was done in a flash, especially as the horn was not even in the steering wheel of the Alfasud, but on the steering column levers. After that, the steering wheel sat in the garage for a few years until it was used again almost a decade later, in the brand new Mazda MX-5. A new hub was all it took and the Momo leather steering wheel exuded Italian chic in the Japanese car too.
It was sold with the Mazda a few years later, otherwise it might have been used in other cars. It's a shame that I no longer have it. Because today you could install it again in a classic car. Just yesterday I met someone who had done exactly that. His steering wheel from his youth is now back in his classic car, which he has just rebuilt ...
P.S. Because back then people liked to replace the steering wheel with nicer items, a "wrong" steering wheel can still be the right (not offensive) choice in a classic car today, as long as the steering wheel fitted fits the period. For this reason, a Nardi steering wheel, for example, can still be found in many completely restored cars today ...
