A friend recently sent along a picture of a new car from a European manufacturer....the key aspect wasn't the lines or shape of the car, it was that the car didn't have a steering wheel - It was guided using a joystick - Sacrilege !
I am and have been a total gear head all my life and one of the things that hooked me first was the way cars had really cool interiors and the DASHBOARD, which usually had a large, ornate steering wheel....As a kid, I got hooked on the design and ornate beauty of cars for their shape and that there was lotsa CHROME....the dashboards and steering wheels were also ornately designed and had lots of extra there to make it " a work of art " as well as functional.
Center stage on this stage was the Steering Wheel - large wheels made of Bakelite or other resins with ornate horn rings and center caps....ahhhhhhh....this is how it was supposed to be.....
Like many other things, the designers and the Bureaucrats got in there and mucked it all up - they wanted lighter materials and safer materials.....soon the dash of the past was a relic. I have gone to car shows and come over to take a closer look at a Classic car only to find out the owner has removed the original wheel and placed a newer small racing wheel in place. HERESY !!
Cars from the the 30s - 70's were made to be showpieces and works-of-art as well as functional autos. We owe a deep appreciation and a world of thanks to great men like Harley Earl for all they contributed to the beauty of the autos we loved from that era....
As far as the guys who think a car needs a joystick, I feel sorry for your generation as you will never truly appreciate what an automobile is SUPPOSED to look like and you will never truly be on the same level as those who preceded you who were Giants.....you are the pygmies who can only imagine what it was like to set the trend....Joysticks in Autos??? GAME OVER as far as I'm concerned.....I'll take OLD STEEL over the new crap anytime.
What is the steering wheel from in the first picture?
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