When we drive the modern marvel, that is our motor car we take for granted the steering wheel.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After all it’s been there since day one of the car?
But not actually - the first cars were steered by tillers.
The concept of the steering wheel emanated from sailing ships’ wheels of the 1800s
The first steering wheel as we know it saw the light of day in 1894.
Alfred Vacheron took part in the Paris–Rouen race with a Panhard 4hp model which he had fitted with a steering wheel.
History shows that as the earliest employment of the principle.
Up until 1968 steering columns were rigid. In a serious accident they often impaled the driver.
The collapsible steering column was invented in 1934 but did not become mandatory until 1968 in the US.
Early steering wheels were very basic with nothing more than a horn as an addition. Some were quite decorative.
Generally they consisted of two, three or four spokes.
Prior to the days of power steering, wheels were large to accommodate the high number of turns lock to lock and the accompanying heaviness.
Power steering was first trialled by Studebaker in 1952.
In 1966 the steering wheel changed. Ford offered the Highway Pilot Speed Control Option with steering wheel pad mounted rocker switches, on its Thunderbird.
In 1974, Lincoln added two rocker switches on the steering wheel to activate various cruise control functions on the Continental and Continental Mark IV.
In 1988, Pontiac offered a steering wheel with 12 buttons controlling various audio functions on the Trans-Am 6000 STE and Bonneville.
By the 1990s, a proliferation of new buttons began to appear on car steering wheels. Remote or alternate adjustments could include vehicle audio, Bluetooth, and voice control navigation.
Often scroll wheels or buttons are used to set volume levels or page through menus, change radio stations, audio tracks and answer or hang up your phone.
The days of pulling off your steering wheel and replacing it with one from the wreckers is long gone, unless you have a degree in auto electrics.
PS The days of the steering wheel may be numbered. The autonomous car of the future may have none.
Stay ahead with local news by signing up for the Great Lakes Advocate newsletter here.