Some new info from guardian designs.
FYI I had one on my Abarth 124 and they are just wicked quality.
For anyone that’s interested:
Hi Tom
We have been crafting wheels for many models for close to 5 years now and have hundreds of happy customers enjoying their sports and performance cars with our upgraded OEM+ steering wheels. We have a *lot* of photos of steering wheels we have crafted in many customer designs shown on our Instagram:
www.instagram.com/guardiandesigns.shop
Check out another GD OEM+ Alfa Romeo wheel we recently crafted - for the Giulia sedan! We did this as complex as you can imagine to “show off” the level of detail we are happy working with. We are comfortable even working with heated steering wheels, to give you more idea of how good we are at this and how long we have been doing it. ? I am also attaching our GD OEM+ MINI steering wheel since this is a good example of a wheel that from factory had the same “split rim” design like the 4C has (and the Giulia has) but we eliminated this for a MUCH smoother and cleaner appearance and driving feel.
1. Location.
We are located in Europe! Specifically, our shop where we craft all our beautiful steering wheels and shift boots is in Poland. And we are also based in Canada, since that is where I am. ?
2. Pricing.
Regular pricing for our Alfa 4C “Classico" wheel in Black Nappa leather will be $449 USD (+ refundable core deposit of $949 USD). Alcantara and accent color leather/Alcantara will be $50 USD optional extras.
3. Design.
Our “Classico" model for the Alfa 4C means we strip down the (weird) factory wheel and correct the odd features that we talked about such as the rim profile changing at the bottom. And it will address the issues you cited
MATERIALS: Like all our GD wheels our Alfa 4C wheel will be re-trimmed in automotive-grade Nappa leather - either Perforated or Smooth leather or, of course, in genuine Alcantara. And we are happy to combine Perforated and Smooth leather (a typical design choice on many of our wheels is to use Perforated leather at the sides and Smooth at the top/bottom sections) and, of course, Alcantara.
STITCHWORK: We take pride in our work including clean and carefully done stitchwork since all our wheels are prepared in our own shop by Michal, our highly skilled and experienced leather craftsperson. We also have 3 stitch patterns to choose from.
THUMB RESTS: The stock 4C wheel has some really big thumb rests… for customers who find these excessive we can tone down the size of the thumb rests to be more subtle (and thus more comfortable), which we agree are excessive for most people on the stock wheel.
4. Core Deposit of $949 = "zero driving downtime".
The $949 “Core Deposit” (set to reflect cost of an Alfa 4C wheel and they are not cheap or easy to come by, even used!) is fully refundable when you return your old wheel to us. To explain what we mean by “zero driving downtime": First, we send you your new GD OEM+ Alfa 4C wheel crafted to your design choices and ready to install (and it is of course based on a factory Alfa wheel so installation is “plug and play”). And then when you have installed it you will send your old 4C wheel back to our shop (in the same packaging material you got your new GD OEM+ Alfa 4C wheel). When we receive your old wheel at the shop we refund in full your $949 Core Deposit. The idea is that then your old wheel will be ready for the next Alfa 4C client… who will send their old wheel in… and so on… ?