We really want the steering wheel in our Team CJ XKSS to be as close a facsimile of an original D Type wheel as possible. I have bought and used several replica D Type wheels in the past, but they were not close enough to the original D Type wheel for this particular project. That being the case, I contacted Mike Lempert, who makes and restores steering wheels and is a true master of his craft. Mike made a stunning steering wheel for one of my Lamborghini restoration projects, so I knew he was the right person to involve in my XKSS project.

I learned from Mike that D Type wheels were made in period by a company called Coventry Timber Bending (I love that name). Apparently the wheels were very much hand made and therefore each wheel differed slightly from the next. The way the wheels were secured to the hub varied, too. Some were blind riveted, some used a combination of blind rivets and button head screws. Mike shared a couple of photos of an original D Type wheel he had once owned (see 3rd and 4th images below). CTB always used Beech for the D Type steering wheels, which is a very light colored wood that matures and ages into a beautiful coffee color. Mike describes the new Beech as more of a manila folder hue, but we have decided to replicate the aged look for our XKSS project.

The wheel in the McQueen car has obviously been restored and varnished at some point, probably when the car was recommissioned at Lynx in England in the mid 1980's. Accordingly, I believe it is a little more 'yellow' than it would have been when McQueen was driving the car. In the first two photos you can see the McQueen steering wheel, including a close up of the rivets and screws holding the wheel to the hub. Interesting to note that the screw at 12 o'clock has obviously been replaced, and is also the only one of the three that has a large washer behind it. Perhaps this was a repair done by the King of Cool himself, although this is one aspect of the wheel that we will not be replicating.

Huge thanks again to the great staff at the Petersen Museum, and especially my friend Bruce Baciu in the Petersen workshop, for taking the time to assist me in getting this very special steering wheel just right!

My favorite steering wheel in the world!	Note screw at 12 o'clock has been changed and a washer added
Note the beautiful coffee hue of an aged, unrestored D Type wheel	Look carefully and you can see evidence of 3 lock washers at 12, 4 and 8 o'clock
Bruce Baciu (ace mechanic in the Petersen workshop) measuring the radius at the end of the spokes	Rim thickness varies significantly around the wheel, which is typical of handmade CTB wheels