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For the love of Steering Wheels.....

Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2015 10:29 pm
by Darren65
Over the last couple of years I've developed a bit of a passion for early steering wheels.......old vintage wheels left untouched have a unique individual character and beauty all of their own which conceal a history of a life well spent 8)

No doubt there's a huge interest in early steering wheels in the States and I thought it'd be interesting to see how much love there is amongst the ranks of DDK?.......post a couple of pics and tell your story....show us what you've got?



For starters this is wheel I found when hunting for an early Prototipo.......much later and smaller than I was looking for but a nice clean looking wheel in great original condition and the date of manufacture worked with my fictious Mongrel build date....a very inexpensive buy, I plan to use this for track days....

......March 1978 350mm Momo Prototipo S shown with a Momo 230 collapsible hub....

Image

Cheers,

Re: For the love of Steering Wheels.....

Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2015 10:37 pm
by IanMcLeod
I guess this isn't the sort of thing you were thinking of, although it has been left untouched and has individual character :- )

Standard 2.2S wheel.

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Re: For the love of Steering Wheels.....

Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2015 11:10 pm
by Darren65
IanMcLeod wrote:I guess this isn't the sort of thing you were thinking of.......
.....well it has a charm all of its own and if it makes the owner smile then that works for me....

....also damned cool in the right rat look car! 8)

Re: For the love of Steering Wheels.....

Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 3:45 pm
by Darren65
I guess this is the first 'Porsche' wheel I ever owned....

....350mm Momo Type V35 Monte Carlo Sports Wheel dated 04/89....a nice looking sports wheel reminiscent of mid-70's Momo's although I'm not overly keen on the contoured grip and better for an IB imo.....

...I inherited this with my 2.4E, the previous owner purchased the car in 89 so probably one of the first things he fitted along with other RS-alike parts...

....for sale if anyone is interested?.....

Image

....

Re: For the love of Steering Wheels.....

Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 3:53 pm
by Darren65
....and the first wheel I ever purchased which replaced the above...

....12/69 VDM 400mm Leather Steering Wheel, part number 901 347 081 10....

...a lucky eBay find and purchased blind, original untouched leather that only required restitching with a wonderful patina....I subsequently replaced this with a JP recovered 380 wheel and sold this one although pleased it's now in another early car and being used as intended :) ....

Image

Cheers,

Re: For the love of Steering Wheels.....

Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 11:24 pm
by Darren65
Another wheel I purchased when looking for a (still) elusive early 360/370 flat black thick gripped Prototipo....

....Late 60's, early 70's 350mm Silver Dished Prototipo style wheel with stacked MoMo logo...

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....shown with a stacked logo reproduction horn push that I produce...

....unfortunately in between photographing the wheel and passing it on to me the seller decided to recolour the leather! :( ......I shudder to think how many great wheels have lost their hard won patina through similar treatment....a shame people can't leave things alone!

I quite liked this wheel and it cleaned up ok but couldn't see it being used so sold it to make way for something better....

Cheers,

Re: For the love of Steering Wheels.....

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 7:38 am
by Uk911
Some nice wheels there Darren, do you have any deep dish ones? .....Mark..

Re: For the love of Steering Wheels.....

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 8:52 am
by hughes73
Lovely VDM wheel Darren. Feels good in my car now. :)

Re: For the love of Steering Wheels.....

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 10:10 am
by scalino65
Image
Here's my Les Leston from about 1964 loosely held in place on Lemmy just to see what it looks like. I pinched it from my Dad who had it on a couple of Lotus Cortinas and a Healey or two back in the 60s. Sadly, I dont think it really "goes" in my car which is a shame as the size, feel and most importantly the girth (fnnnarr,fnnnarr) are suberb!

Re: For the love of Steering Wheels.....

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 10:27 am
by Bootsy
I like it, lovely patina a looks cool in your striped,purposeful car.

Re: For the love of Steering Wheels.....

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 10:42 am
by scalino65
Thanks Thomas, as a man of your experience surely appreciates, its all about the girth. ;)
cheers
Will

Re: For the love of Steering Wheels.....

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 10:42 am
by Bootsy
I currently have this fitted

Image

It's a Moto Lita with the signature on the centre spoke - a late 60s early 70s one. Apparently it came off an old rally car. Lovely worn leather, just the right size (for feel and for gauge visibility and the girth is just right - girth is important, never believe anybody who tells you it's not.

Since this picture was taken I've actually changed the horn push. It is now fitted with a solid aluminium one sprayed in satin black with a Porsche crest.

I've also since brushed the spokes too so they now match the satin ali dash trim.

I have this fitted via an adaptor to a Momo hub. This way it brings its about 1/2 inch closer and allows me to easily unbolt it and pop a momo one in it if I feel like it.

Re: For the love of Steering Wheels.....

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 10:46 am
by scalino65
Thomas, I see you've also gone for an ali facia. Can I ask where you got that from?

Re: For the love of Steering Wheels.....

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 2:38 pm
by jwhillracer
My favourite old steering wheel.
Image
I don't know what make it is. I bought it from a friend at college in the early 70's, and fitted it first to my rally/autocross Beetle, then my Cavalier ( :roll: ) company car, then my 1969 2 litre 911S. When we bought another Beetle as a runabout, it went back on to it until the kids learned to drive in the Beetle (all three of them!). It sat about for a while then, until we bought our 914/6, and even the 380mm wheel was too large for comfort for me, so I swapped the old Prototipo from the Hillclimb 911 on to the 914/6, and fitted old favourite on to the Hillclimb car, that's now coming together for a return to the hills this Spring, to celebrate 30 years since I first threw it up a hill................ :albino:

Cheers!

JW

Re: For the love of Steering Wheels.....

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 6:47 pm
by Darren65
jwhillracer wrote:My favourite old steering wheel.....
.....I don't know what make it is. I bought it from a friend at college in the early 70's, and fitted it first to my rally/autocross Beetle, then my Cavalier ( :roll: ) company car, then my 1969 2 litre 911S. When we bought another Beetle as a runabout, it went back on to it until the kids learned to drive in the Beetle (all three of them!). It sat about for a while then, until we bought our 914/6, and even the 380mm wheel was too large for comfort for me, so I swapped the old Prototipo from the Hillclimb 911 on to the 914/6, and fitted old favourite on to the Hillclimb car, that's now coming together for a return to the hills this Spring, to celebrate 30 years since I first threw it up a hill................ :albino:

Cheers!

JW
...now that's proper steering wheel love..........great looking wheel 8)