One of the Alfatross' assets is its Nardi wood rim steering wheel. By today's standards the wheel is large in diameter, but that was necessary to provide leverage because there was no power assist. Enrico Nardi was a race driver, car builder and designer who created a company that exists to this day manufacturing high-end automotive performance-enhancing products. Nardi began production in the mid-1950s, so the Alfatross' wheel may well be among his earliest creations.
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The Nardi stamp on the back of the lower spoke of the Alfatross' wheel before
restoration. |
The five-speed floor shifter was also a Nardi product. Not all of the Alfatross' brethren have these features. Steering column shifters were at least as common as floor shifters, and factory steering wheels seem to have been fitted more often than Nardi wheels.
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One of the Alfatross' brethren equipped with a factory steering wheel and floor
shifter. |
Nardi wheels are known for their elegant design and seamless blending of steel, aluminum and wood, but the wood rim of the Alfatross' Nardi wheel was beginning to de-laminate when I bought the car in 1969. I studied how it was put together and very quickly came to the conclusion that this was going to be a job for someone with plenty of experience and the right tools. I shopped around for seven years, reading ads, making calls, and asking around for recommendations. There are a lot of steering wheel restorers, but Nardi wheels are difficult. In the end the selection process was akin to spinning a roulette wheel.
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Front of the Alfatross' Nardi wheel before restoration. The black plastic inlay
ring has already popped out of its groove, revealing the rivets underneath. |
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The original wooden rim was beginning to delaminate in 1969. Don't
forget your driving gloves! |
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The chrome plating on the Alfatross' steel steering wheel hub is flaking off--but the
hub cannot be separated from the aluminum spokes and rim. What to do? |
I ended up talking to a wheel restorer in New York state who presented himself as an "artisan" with vast experience and the same tools used by Italian wheel-makers in the mid-1950s. He was also the guy who "found" Ed Leerdam's 1900C SSZ, one of the best-preserved examples in existence. He convinced me he could do the job so I sent him the wheel. There followed 18 months of the second-worst contractor experience I have ever had. In retrospect, I think the contractor--who once had a decent reputation--did not realize his faculties were failing and that he should have taken down his shingle a long time ago. When I finally got the wheel back--poorly finished and with the plastic inlay ring in the wood rim missing-- it was a dazzling display of incompetence.
The entire experience with the poseur in New York was a big waste of time and money. After all that, the "restored" wheel still needed to be restored, so I started the search all over again. This time I hit pay dirt in the form of Bruce Crawford at Hardwood Classics, Ltd., in Los Osos, CA. I sent him the wheel with an explanation of all the misadventures and within three months it was back in my possession. What a transformation! Bruce is the go-to guy for rapid turnaround, reasonable price, and outstanding quality. And unlike most other contractors I have dealt with, he sent good photos of his shop.
This kind of work requires special tools and materials to work in exotic woods, plastic, steel and aluminum. Bruce got around the steel hub problem by simply polishing the steel to a chrome-like finish!
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| Part of Bruce Crawford's steering wheel restoration shop, Hardwood Classics, Ltd. |
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| The Alfatross' wheel and hub after restoration by Bruce Crawford. |
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| The plastic inlay ring, restored. |
All told, the Alfatross' wheel took a little less than 10 years and $2,000 to complete. From this experience I learned several important lessons. There are a lot of charlatans out there. Every time you let parts and sub-assemblies out of your sight you are spinning the roulette wheel, sometimes with tragic consequences. No matter how carefully you choose contractors there are no guarantees that their work will live up to your expectations. Most of the contractors I have dealt with have been one-man operations and most of the results have been good, but if something happens to that man . . . all bets are off!
