The New, Newer Project: Part Tres...

[njsteve]

Looky what the FedEx man delivered today: The original three spoke steering wheel that Rick took off the car in 1975 and replaced with a Formula wheel.

For those who are not in the know, the &quot;Formula Wheel&quot; was the official name of the foam-rimmed, aluminum three spoke wheel that came standard on the Trans Am but was optional on all other Firebirds. Don't ask me why they didn't call it the &quot;Trans Am&quot; wheel...that would have only made sense. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Rick even shipped it in the original box (packaged inside another box so the original wouldn't be harmed) that the Formula wheel came from the dealership in:




Shipped March 3, 1975 from PONTIAC, Michigan!!! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]





Rick even labeled it for posterity back in 1975:





Check out the grain texture in the rim. I bought several used rims off ebay recently before I learned that Rick had the original. All of them were worn smooth from use. This one is amazing.





And back on the car where it should be. Looks nice and classy and matches the interior and the saddle colored steering column, too. (Cars that originally came with the Formula wheel also came with a black steering column to match the black, crinkle finish, wheel hub on the Formula wheel.