Where's the steering wheel? (UPDATE: similar 1887 set-up)

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What you see here is the dash of a 1891 De Dion Bouton et Trepardoux steam Quadricycle as seen at Rétromobile last weekend. Brass era specialist Charles Lemaitre looked bewildered for a moment or two when we asked him to show us the steering er.. wheel, er... tiller, er... switch, eh...lever? It took him just 20 seconds before he finallly pointed at a shovel grip similar to the one you see here. But then mounted not in view of the driver but on the far right side of the driver's seat..... The intricate and unrestored steamer went to a happy new owner at close to 710,000 Euro (932,000 US$). Well, if you can spend that on the car, you can spend a little on driving instructions as well.(photo by editor)
To show that dashboard ergonomy has not seen major improvements over the last 115 years, just check this state of the art 2006 set-up....
UPDATE by Cor Bouwmeester who found a similar 1887 (!) DDB-Trépardoux steering lay-out in this Belgian website.

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