@Drew Gregg,
Here are my thoughts:
1. The CSL Petri is very rare. It is the most touched and worked item on the car, second only to the scheel seats. The leather has been subject to 50 years of tugging, and owners using the wheel as a handle while sliding over the aggressive seat bolsters. Only about 1,200 CSL’s were produced.
2. The wheel is required to make a $150-$450K CSL “Correct”.
3. Buyers interested in this wheel are owners of a $150K+ play thing investment, or steering whee collectors with a room full of other rare steering wheels. Both the demand and the funds are present.
4. Unlike most momo and other desireable wheels, the CSL wheel is unique only to the CSL. The, hub, cover, and wheel are different from all other Petri wheels.
Your ford explorer is well maintained, and certainly rare in it’s own right due to condition. However, Ford sold about 400,000 gen 2 explorers per year for 7 years. So although yours is in great condition, 2.8M were made. Domestic SUV’s have huge production numbers, are generally beat to hell, and don’t retain any value. The Explorer has never been a desirable vehicle in the off-road community. A jeep wrangler from the same time period is worth 3x-4x that if the explorer. More if modified.
But how come car guys want to spend over $3K to have the leather-covered so-called Petri CSL wheel? Was that the standard wheel in the fuel-injected cars?
Here's another funny thing-I just sold my V8 5.0 Ford Explorer that I kept in great condition for 25 years for $3200. That would almost buy me a steering wheel....!!
Note in the pic that I painted the lower parts and wheel inserts Ford Calypso Green 24 years ago. That color is now known in BMW circles as Turkis.