Hello Justinc1973
That sport steering wheel looks great in your Mustang. Although the thin steering wheel was the norm for these era vehicles from all manufacturers, you don't realize just how thin they are until you get out of a new model vehicle and into your '71-3.
The sport steering wheel with the center blow horn was a production-installed option starting in '77 on '77-78 LTD II/T-Bird/Ranchero (N/A in '79), '77-78 Mustang II, '77-80 Granada, '77-80 Pinto, '77 Maverick, and '78-83 E-F-100/150-350, and U-150 (Bronco) truck series and sister Mercury vehicles. There was a leather and a soft foam wrap steering wheel with various center emblems depending on the vehicle line and trim level. Most had the brushed finish spokes with a black spoke version utilized in '80/ on select cars and trucks, once again depending on trim level.
As clevelandcoupe and jasonwthomson mentioned, Ford used another version of the 3-spoke sport wheel on Fox platform vehicles. These models used a turn signal stalk-actuated horn with no contact/slip ring on the underside of the steering wheel hub. The '79-82 Mustang, '78-82 Fairmont, and sister Mercury vehicles used this wheel with both black and brushed finish spoke versions, again depending on model and trim level. Although there were several other Fox platform vehicles, Ford did not use the Sport wheel on them. Ford wisely started transitioning to the center blow horn beginning with the '84 models, so it was normal to see early models with both versions. I had an '80 Mustang with the stalk actuated horn and hated it; not one of Ford's better ideals.
Several emblems were used, with the Ford oval and the Stallion head being the more popular choices. They were interchangeable between models. The Stallion head version is patterned from the fender decal used on the '76-only Stallion Group option on the Mustang II, Maverick, and Pinto. Occasionally OE Ford versions will show up on eBay. Some sources offer a repo emblem and center horn switch cover for black and brushed finish spoked wheels.
These are nice wheels, but with factory cruise control becoming more popular and not adaptable with these Sport wheels, Ford soon dropped them from the option list. They continued to be offered through the Ford over-the-counter accessory program for a while. The D7OZ-3600-A center blow leather version was discontinued in 1/87. The D7OZ-3600-B foam wrap version, which was used as a replacement for the leather wrap wheel, was discontinued in 1/95. The same wheels were used on both car and truck applications. Since the wheels have been discontinued for quite some time, finding NOS versions would be more than challenging. Since the wheels were installed in three different truck lines way longer than they were offered in the car lines, that would increase your odds of finding a salvageable used wheel.
The illustrations below show some of the available wheel/center cap emblem combinations.
#1 is a leather wrap wheel with brushed finish silver spokes and a wreath emblem. This is in a '77 LTD II.
#2 is a soft foam wheel with brushed finish silver spokes and a Ford oval emblem. This is in a '78 F-150.
#3 is a leather wrap wheel with black spokes and a wreath emblem. This is in an '80 Granada.
#4 is a leather wrap wheel with brushed finish silver spokes and a Stallion emblem. This is in a '79 Pinto.
#5 is a leather wrap wheel with black spokes and a Ford oval emblem unique to the car line. This is in an '80 Mustang. (No center horn blow function)
Now you know more about these steering wheels than you ever thought you wanted!
