name "Banjo". Adjustable steering wheels Tilt wheel The original tilt wheel was developed by Edward James Lobdell in the early 1900s. A 7-position tilt wheel was introduced by the Saginaw Division of General Motors in 1963 for all passenger car divisions except Chevrolet which received the tilt wheel in 1964. This tilt wheel was also supplied to the other US automakers (except Ford). Originally a luxury option on cars, the tilt function helps to adjust the steering wheel by moving the wheel through an arc in an up and down motion. Tilt Steering Wheels rely upon a ratchet joint located in the steering column just below the steering wheel. By disengaging the ratchet lock, the wheel can be adjusted upward or downward while the steering column remains stationary below the joint. Some designs place the pivot slightly forward along the column, allowing for a fair amount of vertical movement of the steering wheel with little actual tilt, while other designs place the pivot almost inside the steering wheel, allowing adjustment of the angle of the steering wheel with almost no change in its height. Adjustable steering column In contrast, an adjustable steering column allows steering wheel height to be adjusted with only a small, useful change in tilt. Most of these systems work with compression locks or electric motors instead of ratchet mechanisms; the latter may be capable of moving to a memorized position when a given driver uses the car, or of moving up and forward for entry or exit. Telescope wheel Many pre-war British cars offered telescoping steering wheels that required loosening a locknut prior to adjustment, many using the Douglas ASW (Adjustable Steering Wheel). In 1949, the Jaguar XK120 introduced a new steering wheel supplied by Bluemel that was driver-adjustable by simply loosening a sleeve around the column by hand. The 1955-1957 Ford Thunderbird had a similar design with of total travel. In 1956, the travel was restricted to . A patent was filed regarding a telescoping steering wheel in July 1942 by Bernard Maurer of the Saginaw Steering Gear Division of General Motors (now Nexteer Automotive), but GM would not offer a telescoping wheel of their own until the debut of the optional telescopic wheel offered on the 1965 Corvette and Corvair, and the optional tilt/telescope wheel on 1965 Cadillacs. The GM column was released by twisting a locking ring surrounding the center hub, and offered