Avanti steering wheels are prone to breaking at the welds attaching the steering wheel spokes to the rim.  When I bought my ’63 R2 50 years ago, the owner had been steering the car with just the two steering wheel spokes.  The rim of the wheel had broken loose and was in the trunk. I replaced the steering wheel with the last new one Standard Surplus had - a brown fake wood colored unit used on the 1964 Avantis.  My plan was to get the rim of the original fawn colored steering wheel rewelded