Nardi Today

The rim is not round, but oblong, about —only about 20mm or ¾ inches in diameter and has slight notches for the fingertips. It is very light, the wheel without the horn button assembly is just at 500 grams or just a little over 1.1 lbs. There is a scribe outlining the cross hatch pattern which has been etched too far, showing the imperfections of something produced largely by hand.

Photographs fail to show the ethereal nature of the Classic Nardi wheel. Held in the hands, unattached to a vehicle of any kind, with no other distractions, it stands alone as work of art. Design a car starting from this steering wheel and one would likely end up with a GTO.

A Nardi wheel is an instrument with a purpose, the primary link between man and machine, designed in an era when the cars we drove were machines and spoke to us through the senses which started with the vibrations transmitted through the steering wheel. A good steering wheel is a sensing devise, a receiver of inputs from the steering box, the knuckles, the tie rods and linkages, and the front wheels themselves, a tactile interface to a world of automotive wonders.

Enrico Nardi knew this. So did Enzo Ferrari. The combination of light weight, flexibility, good grip and beauty made Nardi’s wheels the choice of Ferrari since about 1958. It is said that Enrico Nardi signed them all. In any event, the world took notice and Nardi wheels took off. Nardi would also supply many other manufacturers such as Alfa and Lancia. It is nice to know that both the tradition and the name still exist, and Nardi wheels are still created by hand in the old manner, right in Italy.

According to the official Nardi website, two years after Enrico Nardi’s death, the Nardi trademark was bought by another wheelmaker, Personal, and, in 1990, Nardi Italia S.p.A. was founded as a completely autonomous company, located in Abbiate Guazzone – Tradate (Varese) – Italy. In 2005 the ownership of Nardi Italia S.p.A. was officially taken over by Mr. Lorenzo Cerofolini C.E.O. and the company was renamed Nardi-Personal S.p.A. The website is www.nardi-personal.com.

The trademarks of Nardi and Personal were bought from the previous company, allowing the new company to inherit fame, history and know-how achieved through many years of experience. Over the years, these two trademarks have been chosen as supplier of the most important car manufacturers as Ferrari, Lancia, Audi, Maserati, Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, Jaguar, Lotus, TVR, McLaren, Volkswagen, Abarth and BMW.

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The aim of the new ownership was to re-launch the Nardi & Personal trademarks both as first original equipment of prestigious cars (for example PAGANI and LOTUS) for example, with the Kallista wheel in the Zonda, and a strong presence in quality aftermarket steering wheels.

Today, production includes both on sporty steering wheels under the Personal trademark and with the Nardi trademark. Although today’s modern steering wheels use airbags and some are beginning to look like Formula One’s “little (and expensive) black box”, Nardi decided to stick to the traditional type of wheel and even the modern and attractive Personal line doesn’t offer airbag fittings.

This doesn’t deter the SEMA and Fast and Furious crowd, who equip their cars with aftermarket wheels and toss the bags. Therefore, Nardi, Personal and other aftermarket steering wheel manufacturers are still alive and well—even if seeing a Classic Nardi wood wheel on a Honda Civic is, well, different.

In the warehouses some wooden models manufactured in the 60’s in the old plant in Torino were found: these are wheels for specific car models like Fiat 850, Lancia Fulvia and Flavia, and the Alfa Romeo GT.

Not only does Nardi offer a wide range of aftermarket wheels, (hubs can be ordered to adapt wheels to almost any car) but the company decided to pay more attention to the restoration and reproduction of vintage wheels. Nardi will restore any traditional Nardi steering wheel you send them. But check the classic production first—the current Vintage Wheel catalog offers just about any wooden and leather rim steering wheel that were made by Nardi in the past. Nardi’s line has always included modern leather and wood-rimmed steering wheels as well as traditional classic steering wheels, such as the famous Anni ’50 and ’60 series and all are still in production.

In addition, Nardi-Personal S.p.A. has again begun the production of steering wheels—in limited lots—for the most famous cars of the fifties and sixties. “In the warehouses some wooden models manufactured in the 60’s in the old plant in Torino were found: these are wheels for specific car models like Fiat 850, Lancia Fulvia and Flavia, and the Alfa Romeo GT. Our specialists are searching the source of some wheels without identification inscriptions, making reference to samples of the steering wheel column by the Quality Control department.” So not only can you find a reproduction of virtually any vintage Ferrari steering wheel, but even those of a Fiat 850. The list also includes the Porsche 356 A, B and C, but the Mercedes Gullwing, Alfa 1900, Giulia and Giulietta. Others will follow, they promise.

Finally, they also offer a real rarity—a reproduction of the 1955 Le Mans Bisiluro “Twin Torpedo” steering wheel in wood box display, manufactured using the original drawings and wood molds. The wheel had to be small and shaped to allow room for the driver to fit into the tiny streamliner.

Enrico would have been proud. And still bemused.

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