I have never noticed any sort of metallic on mine. I have the steering wheel collar pulled and it has the original darker color that was protected from sunlight over the years. I guess I will go look through storage and try to find it for further study.
OK, I ran out and grabbed the steering column hub I mentioned. Believe it or not, my truck did not originally have the factory style turn signals so the hub was bolted to the back of the steering wheel. I removed it, cleaned it, and saved it specifically for this purpose. I waxed the paint that was between the hub and the steering wheel as to best show it's color. It has been protected all of these years. I asked my wife for a second opinion and we decided there was no metallic. We agreed that the lacquer texture can give that illusion, but that there was in fact no metallic. You can judge for yourself from these images.
Protected darker blue paint
