The personalized steering wheels. Because THOSE are what are important to the war boys at the Citadel, not the cars. You don’t think the cars get wrecked and either repaired or replaced every two weeks? That’s why the wheels are detachable: any war boy can drive any car with their own wheel. It’s a part of them.
But I really love the imagery of the scene after Max kills the Bullet Farmer. Look at where you’ve seen that before, how Max returns covered in blood, dragging a bag of bits taken off the dead, and hands the wheel to Nux. He may as well have presented them with the Bullet Farmer’s head. Because that’s the sign that lets the others know all what he’s done, that’s the symbol of the Bullet Farmer’s death, being separated from his wheel, because he wouldn’t have given it up alive.
And THATS why Nux reacts the way he does when Slit tries to take his wheel in the beginning. It’s not about missing the thrill of the pursuit, or losing his car to someone else like when they took Max’s car. It’s because by taking Nux’s wheel, Slit is declaring him already dead.
Another detail I want to add to this: when Nux crashes the war rig and dies, the wheel they took from the Bullet Farmer flies out towards the screen. Again, losing the wheel means losing their life.
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