Struggling here in deciding what size steering wheel to use in our '56 XK140 FHC. Looking for something typical for the period, while small enough to give room for 6’2" 220lb drivers.
Now, to preempt the purists’ concerns, the decision on the direction of this car has been to insert a Ford 5.0L V8 with auto trans as was LAST in the car (simplest and fastest way to get it back on the road)…
Yah, sacrilege and all that, but it’s final – BUT REVERSIBLE… someday.
Well, while it has a power steering unit, it has a very glaringly-non-period-correct wheel, possibly 14" (see attached pic).
So, with the Ford PS (with Ididit steering column and Unisteer rack and pinion unit), there are no problems with parking and manuevers at very low speeds, but gads, it is too out of place in a car that is being finished to near-correct exterior appearance. The 14" wheel seems much too small.
The 17" wheel that I believe was the original size wheel (which we do not have) will be too large for our large frames I think. It’s a space thing, being addressed in a parallel thread on this forum (“I’m too big for my XK120”).
A 4-spoke wood 15" replica wheel is easy to source, but a 16" is harder (but more expensive) to find.
Can you make comments on any steering wheels you might have mounted on XK120 or XK 140’s?
Fitment, size, and looks are what I’m looking for. Great if you can post pics.
See photo below: a period 16" Les Leston Carlotti in my XK 140. Like mentioned in another topic: 16" is in my opinion the smallest you can use without power steering, but that’s irrelevant in your case (I read).
Bob, that 3-spoke looks much better. Looks like two types of wood, or are those two lighter stripes in the wood plastic?
Was the horn button custom fit, or did it come with the wheel?
My wheel diameter is 15" and the unit itself is a Mota-Lita. On the 120, because the steering wheel has the extended boss, you have to get the correct adapter from the company which would not be an issue on a 140. Some members have opted for the flat horn push, which I understand it is possible to fit on this wheel.
Another one of my favourite subjects after market steering wheels and I have probably 25 or so genuine and aftermarket steering wheels from Jaguar, Les Leston, Derrington, Nardi etc.
My XK150 "Tour de France had a Derrington steering wheel on it so quite use to the slightly smaller diameters.
There was an XK150 here with a Les Leston Stirling Moss signed wheel.
The rarest and the most valuable of the wheels is the Nardi XK120 and XK140/150 wheels these are usually identified by the inlaid black line around the wooden rim the 140/150 rim the more valuable as I believe the same as the 250 Ferrari’s. The later Nardi wheels for the E type was offered through until the 1970’s and maybe later and I have one on my Lynx Eventer.
Regardless of what others may say Jaguar offered the Bluemels Wood Rim Steering Wheel at 12 pounds 10 shillings as an accessory.
There is a bloke in America who offers a restoration service on wood rim wheels and I believe makes reproductions of some of them
I have a 15 1/2" 4-spoke Moto-Lita wheel which I’ve used on both my E-Type and my XK-140. In both cases, I’ve used it while refurbishing their original steering wheels. The steering was probably a little heavier in both cases, but not too much. I couldn’t find a photo of it installed on the XK140, but here’s one of the E-Type.
These photos of my XK120 show the 16 inch black wheel that I use in order to have more legroom. I laid the original 18 inch wheel against it for comparison, I also laid a Series I Etype wheel against it.
The smaller wheel certainly makes it easier to lift my legs between pedals, and equally important, my wife, Lori, can still do parking maneuvers with the smaller wheel. Most people don’t notice the difference when looking at the car. My 16” wheel came from Tracy. Dave
Fantastic responses, and many thanks for the pix so far.
Interesting that the visual comparing original vs smaller diameter steering wheels does not make the smaller diameter wheels too out of place. GTK.
Terry – 25 wheels!?? Do you have them mounted on the wall?
I wrote an article on the subject published in some magazines, covering genuine wooden Jaguar models as well as the “after market” wood-rim steering wheels.
My Les Leston Carlotti (first generation) was made in 1957 or 1958. The wooden part was reproduced by US specialist Mike Lempert using a “plywood” construction with layers of darker and lighter tropical hard wood, which gives a nice effect.
You can use the Moto Lita Boss Kit B32 O/E for XKs, which need slight modifications depending on the bolt pattern of the aluminium steering frame you’re using.
Note that there were only a few wood-rim steering wheels actually offered by Jaguar:
the D-type and XKSS had a version made by Coventry Timber Bending from 1954
the XK 150 had the optional Bluemels wood rim version from 1958 till about 1962
the Mark 2 had a Derrington special Jaguar model from 1959 as optional.
Most applied after-market versions in the late Fifties were either made by Derrington, Moto-Lita or Les Leston. The Les Leston “Stirling Moss” versions became only available from 1962/1963 onwards.
Although Nardi was the company introducing these wood-rim wheels in 1952, Nardi sales in the UK and USA were very limited (if at all) in the Fifties, meaning their presence on early Jaguars can be neglected.
Bob,
Great history.
Wow, the lighter sandwiched color in your wheel was a tropical hardwood.
Took real craftsmanship, and expense, especially for back in “the day”.
Wiggles/Terry,
STIRLING MOSS. Not to get too far off topic, but Moss was my hero back in the 60’s. What a man; what a gentleman – humble, understated, low key, and an incredible driver.
I remember a reporter writing about taking a ride with him on some famous track (maybe in the 1970s?; maybe the Ring?).
He wrote that they were driving at very high speed, and they came upon a track maintenance team in the middle of the road, unaware that anyone was using the track. Moss swerved to miss them without flinching or braking or severe correction. When they came to the end of the ride, the reporter was slightly shaken about the encounter and asked Stirling how he was able to avoid the crew so deftly.
Stirling responded, “What crew? Where?”
His automatic driving instincts were incredible.
After his shunt, at Goodwood, it was the (twmporary) loss of those lightning instincts that he hung up his helmet.
When Dad spoke with him, in 1963, when he drove my ‘rent’s Silverstone Jag (LT-2), he said that things he never thought about before the accident, he had to, post-shunt.
