The Ford Mustang is one of the most modified vehicles on the planet, but one of the components drivers touch more than almost any other is often the most overlooked. We’re talking about the steering wheel, the control center of every car and one of the most important parts of any automobile. While we may not give it too much thought most days, the Ford wants to take us on a trip down memory lane to visit all the steering wheel designs that have graced the Mustang.

It’s quite the trip, and you can really get a sense of just how much the Ford Mustang, and indeed the entire auto industry, has evolved ever since the government took a more active role in passenger safety.

The first Mustang had a distinctive tri-spoke design that would soon become nearly as iconic as the car itself, dazzling drivers with its bare aluminum spokes and faux-wood wheel. Stretching 16-inches in diameter, the first Mustang’s steering wheel was also designed to making turning easier, as power steering was an optional feature in the earliest years.

In 1968, the Mustang’s steering wheel got its first major redesign with the addition of a collapsible steering column and a new two-spoke design with a thicker, padded center, and the horn was now controlled by a metal half-ring along the bottom of the wheel. In 1974 the Mustang II debuted a new two-spoke design with an even thicker center section that would carry-on until the debut of the beloved Fox-body Mustangs in 1979.

The Fox-body’s four-spoke steering wheel became the first to integrate controls directly onto the wheel, and eventually the design would migrate to other Ford vehicles. The three-spoke design returned in 1984 on the Mustang SVO, and in 1990 airbags finally became standard equipment on the Mustang, and it wouldn’t be until the 2005 redesign that the iconic tri-spoke design would be reintroduced.

For 2015 the Ford Mustang got an all-new steering wheel design, with the only circular airbag in the Blue Oval lineup and equipped with the ability to set cruise control, flip through radio stations, and engage the SYNC infotainment system. The 2015 Shelby GT350 and GT350R, meanwhile, received a unique design of their own, allowing drivers to alter the Magnaride suspension, exhaust tuning, and advanced drive modes without ever taking their hands off the wheel.

It’s easy to take the steering wheel for granted, but there is arguably no component as important to driving enjoyment. But even after 50 years, Ford’s steering wheel designs remain as iconic and as functional as ever.