These are some of the most unusual steering wheels ever designed for cars.
Automakers will go to incredible lengths in the pursuit of originality. One example is the strange-looking, sometimes downright mind-bending steering wheels they have come up with over the years. Remarkably, these designs don't sacrifice functionality. Instead, they add another distinctive touch to the car. Here are 10 of the most unusual steering wheels ever created by automotive designers.
The Boomerang, designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro himself, incorporated the entire instrument panel into the steering wheel. Only one example of the car was built. Almost all of the controls, apart from the gear shifter and a few other buttons, were moved to the center of the steering wheel, onto a protruding fixed hub.
The disk-shaped surface also featured a tachometer and five displays. The steering wheel rim rotated, allowing the Maserati Boomerang to be steered in the usual way. Thanks to its uniqueness, the Boomerang sold at auction for €3.335 million.
Designed for both autonomous driving and conventional human-controlled driving, the Peugeot Instinct concept car featured a retractable tiller instead of a traditional steering wheel. In other words, the car is controlled not by turning the wheel but by pushing and releasing the tiller. When the car switches to autonomous mode, the lever neatly folds into the dashboard. In manual mode, it smoothly returns to its original position.
The BMW Z22 concept introduced a bold change in the way the car was controlled: the traditional steering wheel was replaced entirely by a joystick. The futuristic system was mounted to the side and used steer-by-wire technology, with no mechanical connections.
The rectangular touch-sensitive steering control featured buttons for operating the transmission and displaying information from all of the car's systems on the windshield. Particularly impressive was the system's ability to provide real-time feedback.
The Citroen Karin concept itself looked unusual. Its pyramid-shaped glass body provided a panoramic view in every direction. The steering wheel matched the strange design: its circular shape had a section cut out at the bottom, making it easier for the driver to access a car phone with buttons mounted in the center.
Buttons, indicators and other controls were arranged around the steering wheel. The steering wheel's location was unusual, too. It was positioned in the center of the cabin, between the two passenger seats.
This rectangular steering wheel was essentially a transformer. It could expand sideways when the Renault Trezor switched to autonomous driving. The wheel split into two sections and moved outward like wings, revealing a large display.
The futuristic Renault Trezor was an extremely unusual car. It featured a red windshield, while the door lifted together with the entire front section of the vehicle.
A unique and extremely expensive supercar like the Lamborghini Egoista could hardly have an ordinary steering wheel. The Egoista was conceived and built in the style of a military jet fighter, with a single seat for the pilot. Its steering wheel is therefore not a conventional round wheel but an aircraft-style control yoke, combined with the design of a race car steering control.
The driver has to remove it to climb into the racing seat and take control of this outrageous machine.
The Egoista recently found its first owner, who paid $117 million for it.
Mazda designers gave the Ryuga a steering control that left traditional designs far behind. The Ryuga is steered with a yoke that looks as though it was borrowed from a spacecraft of the future.
The car changes direction not by turning the steering wheel but by tilting the two handles of the yoke in either direction. There is no steering column in the design. Instead, electric motors mounted at the wheels turn them.
The Japanese electric concept car also featured futuristic steering controls that looked like either a spacecraft control yoke or a joystick. When the driver tilted the two handles, the EV-STER changed direction and turned where required.
A digital instrument panel with three displays kept track of all the systems on board.
The steering wheel in the Ferrari 458 looks as though it came straight from a Formula One car. Nothing should distract the driver from the track, so all the controls are placed directly on the steering wheel.
There are no traditional stalks behind the wheel. Even the headlights, windshield wipers and turn signals are operated from the steering wheel. Like a Formula One driver, the person behind the wheel can maintain continuous focus, exactly what's needed when driving such a powerful sports car.
This is how Italian designers imagined the car of the future in the 1980s. They weren't far off the mark, as today's modern models demonstrate. The Lancia Orca's steering wheel was packed with buttons — 20 of them, plus two controls.
Still, operating the car could hardly be described as easy or convenient. The driver would repeatedly hit the buttons, even though they were arranged fairly compactly.