"Real" Transparent Steering Wheels

[StevenGuthmiller]

William had asked if any real cars ever had clear steering wheels. Here's a couple of examples. They are a '61 Plymouth & '61 Pontiac.

Steve

[jbwelda]

oh yeah I remember the Mopar wheels now...oblong and semi-rectangular. Wonder how long a career in the auto industry whoever thought up that idea had!

jb

[oldcars]

I went to drivers school in a brand new 1960 Plymouth Fury (yes it was 1960) with the retangular clear wheel. When you are learning to drive the wheel could have been triangular and I probably wouldn't have been bothered. We didn't know any different. The wheel felt normal to a 15 year old. I was more worried about those giant fins behind me when it came time to the parallel park the beast (between two poles)for my license. Richard

[sfhess]

The steering wheel in full-size 65 Mercurys was half clear, half colored.

[realgone58]

I've got the oblong wheel in my '61 Plymouth. Doesn't bother me a bit. Actually makes getting in and out of the car easier, as well as visibility over the top of the wheel. Virgil Exner was the man who designed it. Chrysler called it the "Aero-wheel".

Edited April 21, 2014 by realgone58

[horsepower]

Kind of hard to duplicate properly in scale,because if my mind hasn't skipped a cog again, these were molded with gold metalflake in the clear.

[Swifster]

Pontiac had clear steering wheels until 1968.

[Modelmartin]

Some French classic cars from the 40s and 50s had fully clear lucite steering wheels. One of the Bugatti Atlantics had one in the 50s (The orange Oliver car) That one has been restored so no longer sports it. I have seen them on some Delahayes, too. They didn't have the metal bar running through them like the American cars had!!

[Harry P.]

Didn't Olds also have them in the '50s?

[StevenGuthmiller]

You're correct about the metal flake. I guess one option would be to spray over it with a clear metallic. Although, I'm not sure how noticable it would be in 1/25th scale. I don't think I've ever seen one on an Olds Amere, but I'm no expert.

Steve