The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Interesting factory interior detail on my '62

This may or may not be something the resto guys might find interesting.
I've got a '62 Suburban that has a light silver/champaign painted interior from the factory. The whole thing--walls, ceiling, door panels, and dash, all the same color.
The steering column and steering wheel, however, are white. The truck's exterior was light green originally.
The truck was originally bought by the State of California Parks and Services division.
Was it normal for the steering wheels to be a different color than the interior and exterior on early '60s trucks?
The reason I'm wondering is because I know that the California Highway Patrol specified a white steering wheel for all their highway patrol cars back then--the reasoning was that as the sun beat down through the windshield, a black or dark colored steering wheel would absorb heat and be too hot to hold. A white wheel didn't absorb the heat--or at least not as much.
Wonder if California did that for all their fleet vehicles, or was it common to have a white steering wheel on a green truck with silver interior?
-Brad

I'm not sure what the deal was w/white columns,,I have had 2 64's with white columns(one all-white outside, one blue/white), one was a Custom cab, the other was not. but the 64 suburban(turq/white) I have has a fawn(same as int color) column.

Could it have been a repair?? Or part of a recall campaign??

The steering columns & steering wheels were all white from the factory on the '62-'66's.

The '60-'61's interiors were a charcoal & white.

The interior on my truck was originally fawn(gold) & white. The white was the bezel, the area where the knobs are just below the guage cluster, steering column, steering wheel, and the glovebox door, with the small area just below the glove box door.

I'm not sure on the door panels tho, since a PO spray painted them black. :rolleyes:
David

The pristine and original interior of my 62 is fawn beige - floor, dash, door panels, gas tank, kick panels and ceiling. The firewall is also fawn beige inside and out. The steering wheel is white as is the dash bezel and under that where the knobs are. The truck came plain jane as far as aesthetic options, but it did come with the optional 4 speed and posi rear. It also has an AM radio which works GREAT and the deluxe 4 switch heater.