Over the years we have seen the steering wheel shrinking in size.
When cars were first invented the steering mechanism was not standardised, some used tillers while others used a side stick and there were those who preferred a wheel-shaped user interface.
A steering wheel is just one of the user interfaces that allow us to interact and control the automobile.
The others are the throttle, brake, clutch, gear selector and various switches for the lamps, wipers, locks and modern features, such as an entertainment unit, power seats, sunroof and even ventilated seats.
The most important of those controls are the steering wheel, pedals and gear selector lever and the proof lies in the many accessory shops that offer aftermarket versions of these three items.
These are the primary control of the car because the car, first and foremost, is a personal transportation device that allows us to extend our reach while staying within a private space.
As we move further into the 21st century, the very idea of the car is undergoing a rapid transformation as car companies compete to offer vehicles that can drive itself from point to point without human intervention.
The self-driving car seems like an unstoppable eventuality and some say it will arrive within the decade.
Perhaps the shrinking of the steering wheel is our subconscious response to the inevitable.
The clutch pedal is already an endangered species while adaptive cruise control is slowly creeping in on the importance of the throttle and the brakes.
Meanwhile, some cars already come with lane-keeping functions which allow the system to gently tug the steering wheel in the direction of the road, imperceptibly taking away the final vestiges of our autonomy and handing it over to so many logic gates fed by sensors and cameras.
Swedish carmaker Volvo is promising that no one should die or be seriously injured in one of their cars from 2020 onwards and given that human error is the biggest cause of road accidents, we can guess the direction they need to take to keep their promise.
Volvo is not alone in their quest, when autonomous driving arrives it will be marketed as the biggest safety revolution to ever take to the streets and governments the world over will find it difficult to resist.
Many people are expressing concerns about privacy rather than any issues relating to the effectiveness of the self-drive system, but we have seen time and again how most humans, even educated ones are willing to give up some of their privacy for additional comfort or convenience. Just look at Facebook.
In the coming years, we will see the steering wheel shrinking or taking a different form, perhaps a joystick or something that can be as easily stowed away when not wanted.
It is time that we start to collect steering wheels and gear knobs as part of keeping the history of the automobile alive.
Find those weird steering wheels from Citroen and from cars in the 1970s and cherish them. Get a hold of the early soft plastic moulded monstrosities of the 1980s and regale the variety of designs that made it to market.
Get a hold of early millennium steering wheels with so many buttons on them and remember the glory days when cars suddenly became so technology-packed that most of us could no longer learn to operate all of them or maintain them with just elbow grease.
And so here I would like to list some notable steering interface from the past.
THE tiller of the Ford Quadricycle — there are other tillers like it but this is important because it helped Uncle Henry to figure out that a circular control interface allowed for small repetitive movements that is better for fine directional control of the car.
THE VAUXHALL A-type steering wheel — This wheel is on the list as a representation of what was done in the first decade of the 20th century when steering wheels also incorporated throttle controls and even allowed the driver to determine the fuel-air mixture.
THE 3.1936 Buick Roadmaster Phaeton, Banjo steering wheel — This is one of the best early three-spoke design. Instead of a t-formation, the spokes were 120 degrees apart. This so-called “banjo” design with the three slim wire spokes were so stylish that it must have made three-spoke steering wheels mandatory in the best cars.
THE Ferrari 250 GTO three spoke Nardi — If there was ever a steering wheel that people fell in love with it must be the Nardi three-spoke that found it’s way into Enzo’s cars. The 250 GTO steering wheel with drilled spokes were exciting to look at. The slim wood rims are elegant and the drilled spokes conveyed a sense of lightweight racing purpose and looked fast even as cheap copies stuck in the most mundane of cars.
THE Original Volkswagen Beetle, two-spoke moulded plastic wheel — This is a classic design with the early variants offered in a variety of colours, from white to beige to baby blue and even black, to match the interior of the car. The half-moon chrome plated rim for the horn is also a theme for cars from the same era.
THE single-spoke Citroen DS19 steering wheel — It looked so futuristic then and even today it still epitomises the retro-future idea. Citroen was known for quirky steering wheels for decades after that. Even their current steering wheels pay some small homage to the DS but they are not nearly as interesting.
The list stops here because I don’t think anything from the 1980s onwards can quite match up to these.