The Coolest Steering Wheels In Car History

Steering In Style

If eyes are the windows to the soul, then the steering wheel is the soul of the car. It’s the one part of a vehicle you’re guaranteed to touch every time you drive—and the best ones are unforgettable.

Here are 20 of the coolest, most iconic, and delightfully bizarre steering wheels ever to grace the automotive world.

Caterham Seven SuperSprint

Steering wheels don't get more honest than this. The Caterham’s thin-rimmed, wood-rimmed wheel is delightfully old-school, designed for pure driving feedback. There’s no airbag, no buttons, no fuss—just you, the car, and the road (or track).

McLaren F1 GTR

The F1 GTR’s steering wheel is race-car minimalism at its peak. It’s tiny. It’s functional. And in typical McLaren fashion, it screams “function over form”—yet somehow ends up being beautiful. There’s no mistaking that you're behind the wheel of a machine built for one thing: winning.

Mercedes-AMG One

You want F1 for the road? The AMG One actually delivers. Its squared-off steering wheel features integrated screens, switchgear, and controls borrowed straight from Mercedes’ Formula 1 program. It’s more spaceship than sports car, and yes—it works surprisingly well on the road.

BMW M3 (E30)

It’s not flashy. It’s not covered in buttons. But the E30 M3’s wheel is beloved because it delivers a perfectly analog driving experience. It’s thick-rimmed, simple, and gloriously communicative. A reminder that not every great wheel has to look like a fighter jet yoke.

Eunos Cosmo

Before infotainment was mainstream, the Eunos Cosmo—a quirky rotary-powered GT from Mazda’s luxury arm—had a touchscreen interface...in 1990. The steering wheel was just as advanced, featuring buttons and tech no one else dared use at the time. 

Spyker C8

If steampunk were a car, it’d be the Spyker C8. Its steering wheel is a polished aluminum throwback, complete with aviation-style detailing and intricate spoke designs. It's retro-futuristic art on a stick—and it turns just as many heads as the rest of the car.

Pagani Zonda R

The Zonda R’s wheel is a work of extreme detail, with carbon-fiber finishing, integrated shift lights, and a center-mounted screen. The attention to craftsmanship is obsessive. It’s part race car, part jewelry box.

BMW M Wheel

BMW’s iconic “M” steering wheels have long been a benchmark for driver feel. The best of them—like the ones found in the E46 and E92 M3s—strike the perfect balance of thickness, tactile feedback, and understated design. They may look ordinary, but they feel extraordinary.

Ferrari Wheel

Modern Ferraris ditch the stalks altogether. Everything—turn signals, headlights, drive modes—is on the wheel. This "manettino" design philosophy comes from F1, and while it’s controversial, it’s undeniably innovative. You never have to take your hands off the wheel.

Ford Mustang (1st-Gen)

The Mustang’s wheel was as much a style icon as the car itself. With its thin, chrome-rimmed design and deep-dish layout, it instantly conveyed performance and freedom. It was a wheel that practically whispered “let’s go burn rubber”.

Aston Martin Lagonda

The Lagonda was weird—in a good way. And its square-shaped steering wheel was the icing on the digital dashboard cake. It felt more like flying the Millennium Falcon than driving a luxury sedan. Futuristic in the 1980s, and still kinda futuristic today.

Subaru XT

Who gave the XT a trapezoidal steering wheel? Subaru did. And it worked. Pair it with the crazy cockpit dashboard and digital readouts, and you’ve got a wheel that looks more like a Nintendo controller than a car part.

Ferrari F40

No buttons. No airbags. Just a three-spoke wheel wrapped in suede. Like the rest of the F40, it’s raw and focused. Every ounce of this wheel screams: “Hold on tight—we’re about to unleash 478 turbocharged Italian horses”.

McLaren 570S

McLaren went for simplicity with the 570S: no buttons on the wheel at all. That’s right—none. The idea was to keep the driver focused on driving, not toggling through menus. Some love it. Some don’t. But everyone remembers it.

Lotus Evija

The Evija’s steering wheel looks like it was yanked from a Le Mans prototype. Flat on the top and bottom, with a squared grip and a digital screen in the center, it’s futuristic, functional, and very, very cool.

De Tomaso P72

Retro glam at its finest. The P72’s wheel is wrapped in stitched leather, mounted on polished copper, and features a central hub that looks like a vintage watch face. It’s the kind of steering wheel you want to take home and hang on your wall.

Aston Martin One-77

The One-77’s steering wheel is angular and bold, mirroring the brutal elegance of the car itself. It’s made from carbon fiber and hand-stitched leather, and looks like it was designed by Q Branch.

Lamborghini Sesto Elemento

Minimalism meets madness. The Sesto Elemento’s wheel is stripped of everything unnecessary—bare carbon fiber, no airbag, no frills. Just a hardcore, ultra-lightweight race car component, built for one purpose: to obey you at 200 mph.