When poring over the pictures of today’s eBay find, I was reminded of something which perplexed me all the way back in my boyhood: cars whose tachometers didn’t rest at zero when the ignition was turned off. A little research suggests that not using a spring-load mechanism to pin the needle down when power was cut allowed more accurate, instantaneous engine speed readings, and a cynic could safely assume that it made for cheaper production. Either way, Mopars have traditionally been generous with their number of readouts, which were a rather fun way to show off an owner’s generously chosen specification.
As we know, the era which brought you such things as the talking dash was notable for conspicuous displays of “high-tech,” making digital dashes very popular. But there was nothing like a full set of analog gauges to clearly state a car’s (or marketing department’s) sporting intent, and as the ’90s wore on, these became less and less common. Especially noticeable are the lack of boost gauges in an era where the turbocharged, direct injection engines have become mainstream and I miss these most, especially when mounted where passengers could see them.
Lest you think I’m partial to Chrysler, check out this Rallye Gauge package from Oldsmobile. Six neatly sited gauges where a ribbon speedo and gas gauge would normally sit add an extra dimension to the most mundane drive to the grocery store, though as a package, it’s less ’80s-specific than the Laser’s set-up with graph paper background.
When it came to standard instrumentation, imports usually had the Americans beat, but Japanese offerings outside North America were available with a bevy of wacky digital dash options, and in the case of the e90 Corolla, also with a full-width analog set-up. Who knew grandma’s Corolla could be equipped with a 9,000 rpm tach and an oil pressure gauge where the radio usually went? Talk about missing out.
At least the Supra and 300ZX offered the same effect, if only for a lot more money. I’d list the analog version of the Z’s dash as having close to being my favorite comprehensive instrumentation package from the era, but something a little simpler, or at least more concentrated in one place would be preferable.
Could more carmakers not have simply offered such options through the dealer, as Volvo did? There’s no boost gauge on this 240, and the five-speed M47 gearbox confirms this isn’t a turbo (boo hoo), but there’s no denying the appeal of having all auxiliary gauge and switch slots occupied. The analogue tuner and overseas climate control panel complete the effect.
Now that you’re feeling inspired by all these shining examples of gauges gone wild, what are your favorite complete analog instrumentation set-ups from the era?
I prefer analogue any day over digital. The less lights the better, except that which provide visibility for the driver.
BMW especially the 733i. Legible, uncluttered, clean, informative.
I recognize and loved the second one. It’s a turbo Sundance or Shadow.
Its no contest if you’re looking for the that true 1980s feel – it has to be the MG Maestro from 1983.
The only good thing about it,I loved the talking dash which was probably a first for a mass produced car
Mercedes W126 for me. It picked up where the W116 left off and set the stage for the 190E and 300E. BMW has retained some of its classic 70s-80s look but not Mercedes and that’s a shame. Their interiors have no look now.
I agree. So perfect, so clearly Mercedes, and still looks so good today.
I, too, like that vintage Merc dash and interior.
Or, for an excellent,simple and attractive solution, the Mazda MX-5 Mk1, from 1989
+1, Roger.
I love the Miata instrument cluster. It’s simple, it has all the gauges a car needs to have, it’s all analogue, rather than digital. I like that. 🙂
85-88 Thunderbird Turbo coupe/Sport/Cougar XR7Analogs.
Oh yeah MN12s came out in 89 too didn’t they, I like that cluster too.
I very much like that T-bird Super Coupe. Great gauges and dash layout.
The Subaru Alcyone / XT coupe always was interesting to me. There is an awful lot going on in there:
Even the digital cluster was fairly unique:
We referred to the XT dash as “Darth Vader’s bathroom” back in the day.
I came to say this. Is there any car cockpit that screams ’80s more than this one? It’s the kind of dashboard a stylist from the ’50s would have put on their concept car of the future had digital displays existed, only Subaru did it for real.
The mid-eighties RX-7 had a fantastic dashboard for the era.
I can agree with that one. The earlier ones are a bit more 70s inspired and has a big center tachometer.
It’s interesting to note only those of us in North America got that restyled dashboard; the rest of the world continued on with the old design.
I didn’t know that, fascinating piece of trivia for the ol’ memory bank. I wonder why that dashboard was NA only?
I very much like the gauges and cleanly integrated center stack. That’s basically just right.
My dad’s uncle Renault 21 digital dash… I remember asking the key of the car just to sit on the driver’s seat and ignite it (they even let me start it once). It felt like a science fiction movie!
Our ’87 Caprice wagon had the full gauge package instead of the ribbon speedo and idiot lights, which was one of the great things about that particular car. ’80s typefaces, particularly on domestic cars, look seriously outdated, though, in a way that even ’60s typefaces do not.
I am a big fan of BMW and M-B panels (most of them anyway) for their functional and legible design. I am not a fan of panels that give me less information than I like to have handy or hide it among touchscreen options or menus. My wife’s MINI apparently thinks the car’s operating temperature is some kind of state secret.
The digital dash in my 85 300ZX Turbo was very entertaining.
My sister had a non-turbo ’86 (I think) 300ZX with that same dash. I always thought it was one of the cooler ones of the era.
I learned how to drive (in 1989) in my sister’s ’85 300ZX. The digital instruments (complete with the compass, accelerometer and MPG readout in the three round traditional Z-car ‘pods’ above the center console) were very amusing.
The whole car was dreadfully 80s, burgundy (think ‘blood clot’) velour interior, fake woodgrain on the center console and more lights and buttons than anyone could ever figure out. At the time, the 160hp 3.0L V6 and 5-speed manual seemed fast and the t-tops complete the ‘cool’ package.
The most interesting (and useless) was the tachometer graph that moved from left to right as it also increased in height. Learning to drive a stick was tough enough, but with that distraction it made it a little tougher.
Still a cool car….
I always liked the Monte Carlo SS instrumentation in the 80’s….
The GMC Jimmy had that funky quarter circle speedo and other gauges, but I have never been in a running example and thus have no emotional attachments to Jimmies. By far my favorite 1980s instrument panel is from a Saab 900 because those cars were so common in my family. The HVAC controls in the second photo are the same as in my former 95 Voyager.
The 1980-1990 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight, Eighty Eight, Custom Cruiser instrumentation panel:
1985-1990 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight and Eighty Eight digital instrumentation panel:
1989 Cadillac Fleetwood digital instrumentation panel:
1984-1985 Oldsmobile Toronado digital instrumentation panel:
1986-1989 Toronado digital instrumentation panel:
1989 Buick Riviera Instrumentation panel:
I’ve always liked horizontal speedometers over circular speedometers.
I know I am in the minority, but I always liked digital dashes like the 19080s Riviera and Town Car. Whatever happens to heads up display?
What did happen to it?
Its on the…..
Corvette
Camaro
Lacrosse
XTS
ATS
CTS
Escalade
Acadia
Yukon
I once had a Ford Ranger with a poor man’s heads up display. Driving at night the instrument panel reflected in the back glass and that image was then reversed back to normal in the inside rear view mirror. Therefore you could read the speedometer without ever looking down. Kind of odd, but it was also fun to play with on those long night drives.
Beep booop bleep……..behold………the future!
“A door is ajar…”
“A door is ajar…”
“A door is ajar…”
In the early 1980s, I thought Olds Cutlass as shown above was the best. 6 gauges and idiot lights. Hard to beat
Corvette totally digital dash of the 80s… I LOVE THE 80s!!!!!!!!!!
+1 I had an 84 and then an 86. Very entertaining at night. Not so good if sun is shining on the panel.
+1 – exactly what I was going to post. I can’t stop liking the look of those awful(lly wonderful) things.
300 ZX for me – love the little digital/analog things beside the dash- not sure what they do
Paraphrased from the Z31 fansite http://www.az-zbum.com/:
There are analog and digital variations of the two centre gauges.
Analog gauges –
* Turbo = combination oil pressure/temp gauge and boost gauge
* Non-turbo = oil pressure gauge and volt meter
Digital gauges –
* 84-86 = acceleration gauge (basically G-Force) with mpg display and compass
* 87-89 Turbo = combination oil pressure/temp gauge and boost gauge
* 87-89 Non-turbo = combination oil pressure/temp gauge and volt meter
Chrysler Conquest/Mitsubishi- love this car
That screams classic ’80s with a futuristic, digital look.
Here’s Tyler’s (former) 1984 Mustang L dash – very ’80s, but the rest of the interior was, interestingly, very late ’70s.
As you can see here:
Did he sell it?
Yep, it finally died on him one too many times…
looks like a chair Archie Bunker would have…sweet.
Well, yeah, it technically isn’t an 80’s dash, it came out in 1979.
The original Fox Mustang dash looks like the Fairmont’s with full instrumentation, so that would make it 1977. I don’t recall whether the Fairmont actually offered this option at the time, though. Nice, simple design, though the plastic was a bit flimsy & the dash compartment was small.
I’ve always preferred black lettering on a white background, but I can’t think of any 80s cars that had anything other than white-on-black. This discussion also has me wondering if there is any car still being made that has the old-fashioned American-style horizontal speedometer. My favorite speedometer of all time would have to be the one in my mom’s ’64 Rambler station wagon. The numbers were abbreviated; “1” represented 10 MPH, “2” represented 20 MPH and so on. “Mom, you’d better speed up! You’re only going five miles per hour!”
Yep, the Packards and Hudsons I owned had that “feature.” The Hudson instrument panels in the late ’40s and early ’50s looked like chrome jukeboxes. 🙂
My 85 4runner had that graph paper background like in pic 1. But I don’t think they are a perfect match.
My fave was my 86 Celica GTS.
I always liked the instrument panel of my grandfather’s 1987 Continental. The digital dash, electronic climate control and Twin Comfort Lounge Seats with “video game” controls were so different from my parents’ Volvos and the “Continental” script above the glovebox lit up blue-green at night!
Checkmate.
62 Chrysler.
Everybody else can go home now.
If the question had been 60s dashboards, you would win hands-down, Stan. 🙂
The Astra Dome has my vote for Best Instrument Panel of the 20th Century. For the 1980s I like the MB W124, preferably the early ones with the vacuum gauge.
Finally seen what they look like at night! Thanks for posting that.
+1. I have WANTED a car with the Astradome (Astra Dome?) since I first learned about them a decade ago, even though I don’t find the cars equipped with them to be appealing otherwise. A 1966 Charger with EL gauges would be a lesser substitute.
Um? 1980’s? Hello?
It was a temporary moment of insanity. My brain hears “instrument panel”, shuts down all thinking processes immediately, and that AstraDome vision rules my actions.
Double Checkmate!!
Looks very close to the current Fiat 500 circular speedometer. I guess the gene runs deep in the extended Chrylser\Fiat family!!!!!
Now we know why Sergio Marchionne wanted Chrysler so much!!!!
’80s dashes were a low point. The best of the ’80s were mostly carry overs from the ’70s that lived on and on in large domestic cars.
Lancia Trevi
Whoa!
OMG! That’s one busy instrument panel! There’s no way in hell anyone could pay attention to every dial and keep your eyes on the road.
Clean dash policy. (Photo: Huntercreek)
That’s a Peterbilt 379, which debuted in 1987. Its predecessor was the 359, which beginning with the 1977 model featured the iconic “Dash of Class”, better known among truckers as the “Corvette” dash…..
+1 Thats how the dash looked on my grandpa’s 2000 Pete 379…very distinctive
Always a pleasure to see conventional Peterbilts and Kenworths at truck shows here. They are extremely rare as pure workhorse, this nearby trucking company has a Peterbilt 386 as a “daily driver” though. (Photo: Iep van der Meer)
My grandmother’s 87 Pontiac 6000. It felt like the gauges went all the way across the dash.
My dad’s 1984 Pontiac Phoenix’s dashboard was cool for it’s time in a compact car.
The two remaining silver-faced gauges I can think of: The 1980 Buick Electra Park Avenue (I think they went black in 1982 or so), and the 1977-1991 Mercury Grand Marquis.
My regret: I like horizontal speedos better. My favorite of those in the 80s was on the Crown Victoria. The others on the big GM cars were too tiny.
I have a soft spot also for the old Honda speedos from that time. I liked the instrument panel on my parents ’84 Civic. One of the few things I liked about that peppy, but hot and uncomfortable little car.
1985-1988 Dodge/Plymouth Colt/Mitsubishi Mirage.
AAUGH! I can’t decide my favorite amongst the sea of Digital Dashboards!
Fleetwood Brougham-old school analog and lots of fake wood.
I recognize the top one. It looks identical to that of my 1986 Chrysler Laser. Meaning that it could also be a similar vintage Dodge Daytona. The second one appears to be that of a Shadow or Sundance.
Call me old-school, but I’ve always preferred an instrument cluster with proper analogue gauges than idiot lights or digital read out. Most of the cars I’ve ridden in or have driven used analogue gauges. Idiot lights are a fine supplement to the gauges, but they’re a poor substitute for the gauges.
+1. You can get the info you want from where the needle is on the gauge scale without having to read a number.
I liked some elements from the dashboard of my ’82 Camaro Z28. The way the top of the dashboard lined up in the same horizontal plane as the hood; and the instrument and control layout. I will admit the gauge ports were just a little too small, and the lighting was as primitive as a ’60s VW Beetle. The modular design was great for service access.
I also miss the dashboard in my ’84 Nissan Pulsar NX.
Neither of these cars were landmark dashboard designs. I’d take almost any ’80s dashboard over what is designed today; how ugly can they get?
It would have to be a Mercedes W124, but at speed, like this one. 260 kmh = 162 mph. That would have to be a 500E. I could only squeeze 140 out of my 300E.
Considering he’s 300rpms into the red, I don’t think that one was long for this world. Not like he just blipped it up there either, as quick as the 500E is, it’d still take a fair bit of running in the red to get it to that speed. Poor engine.
The red zone doesn’t mean it can’t be utilized; it’s the highest operating range for the engine, all of it. All engines can be operated past their actual power peak; they often have to be, in order to shift (in a manual) at the engine speed that will give the best acceleration, so as to not drop rpm too much in the next gear (upshift). If you shift right at power peak, it will cost you time on acceleration.
I wouldn’t worry about the health of that motor, at 6400 rpm. That’s not all that high. And undoubtedly, it has a rev limiter that cuts in, unless it’s been disabled.
These engines have been modified to put out much more power.
1996 Toyota Corolla 6-speed manual. Redline in 5th gear produced 195km/h. Changing at redline to 6th produced no change in top speed. But, Going 500rpm past redline in 5th produced 197/9ish and changing to 6th then meant the revs were high enough for 6th to keep accelerating until 205. Repeated 3x with witnesses, as it was a new and exciting learning for us all. Allegedly of course 😉
Paul,
Does Mercedes mark their gauges differently than other automakers? Because most do not recommend operating at all past redline. Fuel cutoff for the rev limiter tends to be a few hundred RPM past redline, but some of this is because a lot of tachometers actually lag a bit.
I’ve not heard of any automaker using the red zone on the tachometer as a “past the power peak” zone.
Of course automakers don’t recommend exceeding the redline, like they don’t recommend towing, and a whole lot of other stuff for warranty and legal liability reasons. If you’re going to listen and follow everything automakers tell you to do or not do, well, help yourself.
I prefer common sense and knowledge. Exceeding the redline for long, continuous periods is obviously going to stress the cooling system as well as the engine, possibly, to one degree or another. But no one is going to convince me that a short burst a couple of hundred rpm past the power peak of a well built engine like this one is going to hurt it in the slightest. What would get damaged? Most modern engines are way understressed, and are hopped up to run faster and with more loads all the time. As has been the case for almost forever.
Do you think Henry Ford scolded all the guys who added DOHC heads to his Model T block, and ran them for 500 miles at Indy at over twice the T’s top rpm, with all the stock components in the block?
Back in the old days, one would know one’s engine and what it was capable of. Sports car racers all knew very precisely at what rpm to shift for max acceleration, which was inevitably well into the red zone. And running a downhill long straight full on also exceeded red line.
One knew the weak spot, which in OHV engines inevitably was the valve gear. But even in 1957, Road and track tested the Corvette with the FI 283 and found it would run cleanly to 7000rpm, for optimum acceleration times. If an OHV V8 from 1957 can run 7000 rpm, than I’m quite sure an OHC V8 of similar size, built by Mercedes in the 80s, can handle 6300 rpm.
Another example: The Honda K24 four is built in three states of tune; one that makes max power at 6000 rpm (Accord) 7000 rpm (TSX) and 8500 rpm. All same basic engine, different valve timing and such. So it’s going to hurt my TSX to overspeed the engine a bit, when it’s redlined at 8500 in another version?
What exactly is going to get damaged from overspeeding a bit in a modern engine? What component? Seriously. I’m sorry, but you guys are coming off a bit manufacturer-whipped here. Benz engines have been designed to be run wide out for hours at a time; running a few rpm faster sure isn’t going to be an issue. Red line is not exactly the blow-up speed.
If I followed Ford’s guidelines, I’d never haul more than 1200lbs in my F100. I regularly haul 3x that, and it hasn’t complained yet.
Actually, the Honda K Series that is redlined at 8500 is a K20 version. But in checking this out, here’s another typical example: The K24A2, as used in the ’04-’08 TSX and Accord Type-S (JDM) was redlined at 7600 in all parts of the world, except the US, where it was redlined at 7100 rpm. Exact same engine.
This is exactly what manufacturers also do with tow ratings. The liability issues in the US are such that manufacturers lowball products sold here.
My issue is with your statement: “The red zone doesn’t mean it can’t be utilized; it’s the highest operating range for the engine, all of it.”
While operating above the redline for short periods is unlikely to cause harm to the engine, saying ALL of the area on the tachometer above the redline is part of the engine’s operating range is simply not correct. It’s just how high the manufacturer decided the scale would go – no different to a car having a speedometer with scale that goes past its top speed.
In modern vehicles, it’s a non-issue – the rev limiter will kick in before catastrophic damage could be done. But implying that the engine could be operated clear to the top of the scale is, IMO, a bridge too far. In the case of a modern car, it simply won’t let you get there. On an older vehicle, certain design features may prevent it; I’ve driven an older car where valve float reduced engine power so much that it just wouldn’t rev any higher. But without a rev limiter, some engines with high RPM power peaks could be pushed to the point where they break.
Most of the focus tends to fall on piston acceleration, though I suspect that, more commonly, valves could float to the point that, on an interference engine, the valve doesn’t close before the piston rises to meet it.
Really well-stated Paul 🙂 And totally borne out by my Corolla experience above. Same goes for other gauges – when my Laurel kept blowing coolant fittings/hoses, the temp needle sat at the top of the gauge briefly several times until I could find a place to park. My mechanic said Nissan deliberately under-calibrated the temp gauge and it would take several minutes for damage to occur. My engine was indeed fine.
You’re also fully correct that a good driver is well aware of their car/engine’s actual capabilities versus what the manufacturer says. You’ll know the normal feel and sound of the car/engine, and will be aware of anything unusual or different. Indeed, Ford didn’t even put a redline on the rev counter of the MKII Escorts/MKIII/IV/V Cortinas sold here; decent drivers worked out for themselves what the engine was happy with.
Joe, I will agree that my words “all of it” were not well chosen, and I would like to qualify that. It depends, obviously on a number of factors, and you’ve laid many of them out in your comment.
I was (over) reacting to Jim’s comment, which seemed to suggest this 500E engine running at 6300 rpm was doomed. I strongly disagree, as well as with the assumption that a modern engine is going to be damaged by spinning a bit faster than the beginning of the red zone.
How much of the red zone is useable, and should be used, depends. If the engine has a rev limiter, it’s a non issue. If not, it depends on the engine and what one knows about its ability to rev without damaging itself. That obviously varies.
This is worrying Ive been trying to think of an impressive 80s instrument cluster and nothing springs to mind I had a 89 Prelude yeah it looked fine but nothing worked $100 car it went its was moderately tossable but nothing great I had a quick Commodore but it a mid spec car fairly poorly equipped for instruments, valve float is max rpm flatshift up another gear run out of gears thats it flat out
Look, 260 km/h at 4,850 rpm and not even close to its redline.
Satan’s Fuel !
I was very fond of the instrument cluster on my third-gen Prelude: big, crisp, easy to read. It could have used more secondary gauges, but for presentation and ergonomics, it was hard to beat late-80s Hondas.
My favorite ’80s dash is the ’85 Soarer Electro Multivision setup, of which an owner was kind enough to provide me with photos and info. Not only did it have digital instruments, it also had a CRT monitor/TV built into the instrument cluster with a remote control and (optional) VCR adaptor. So, you could theoretically have watched Back to the Future on videocassette in your futuristic car (albeit only when stopped — the system wouldn’t let you watch TV with the transmission in any drive gear). If there’s anything more ’80s than that, I have a hard time thinking of it.
The 1986-88 Chevy Z24 – when it actually works. Ours broke as soon as the factory warranty ended. It would light up like normal when the car was started, but one by one, each gauge and the speedometer would go blank until they were all out. Beating on the dashboard would make it light back up, but it was only temporary. Apparently, the circuit board had a microscopic crack – this was a known issue with this cluster & resulted in it being deleted for the ’89 model year.
Also really like the full gauge cluster from the 1988-90 Buick Regal. There was one with just a digital speedometer, a normal fuel gauge, old fashion odometer, and idiot lights – and there was the full on digital setup, complete with the bar graph gauges. Very neat looking.
I was going to post this one. I never liked digital dashes – but I did like the one in the Regal.
I liked that you could select the speedo/tach look as a bar graph or “gauge” or both. I liked how when a reading went into a warning area the gauge outline would illuminate in red. I even liked the way the fuel gauge switched from E->F to E-> 1/4 as you got down near the end of the fuel supply.
Saw many digital dashes that were poorly done, but the Regal with full gauges was a winner.
cool never seen that one
This was a nice digital dash, I still see one on the road every once in a while too. I liked how the little triangle warning lights illuminated. The Cutlass Supreme digital dash from the same era was pretty cool too.
+1 on the Cutlass Supreme dash – we had one of those briefly too, it was very neat looking. The only downside to the Regal dash was that the angle it faces makes it darn near impossible to see it when the sun shines on it. But, other than that, it was a perfectly done digital dash.
The Citroen BX gauge with the speed indicated on a rotating bobbin. It was fun to see the bobbin actually rotating while my dad was driving our rental car.
The Renault 25 gave you that spaceship feeling. This is the Brougham edition, called Baccara.
Ah yes, they had those big turn-wheels up top to allow almost-fingertip control of the volume etc of the radio. Rode in an ’86 back in ’93, it had the talking dashboard too and a voice kept shouting that my door was ajar.
yes I had a 25 Versailles with a ‘tableau de bord’ that i loved – not quite as radical looking as the first type as they filled in the sides of the floating cowl to avoid light reflections. And speaking of Renault dashes – now this is 80s! (5 GTA)
They sure don’t make them like that anymore….
Probably from the R5 Turbo, the GTA was an Alpine model.
My favourite 80s dashboard – and one I still think looks good today – is that of the 1984-8 Australian XF Ford Fairmont Ghia (and also the related FE model LTD). I spent time as a teenager in ’91 piloting a friend’s father’s ’87 Ghia, and especially loved the three-tier stereo and auto-oscillating centre airvents. The fingertip control button pods were inspired by the 1980s Mazda 929; Ford Oz was so impressed with them in the 929 they bought them from the same supplier.
I was going to post the S-pack version as a complete analog setup – not my favorite though, the styling department had too much influence here.
There were 3 versions of the instrument cluster, base models with speed/temp/fuel, S pack, then the digital speedo plus illuminated bar tacho and supplementary gauges.
My father had the next model LTD with a digital speedo, analog tach and minor gauges plus a vehicle outline for door ajar warnings plus idiot lights. The audio system a double-din unit with graphic equalizer presets plus rear seat controls and headphone jacks.
I still prefer a full set of analog gauges, preferably with a mechanical oil pressure gauge. Too many gauges now are merely idiot lights with needles.
The earlier XD-XE model Falcons had a full set of gauges that were a model of simplicity and clarity.
My grandparents’ ’86 XF Fairmont came with the S-Pack instruments – not sure about Australia, but I think they were standard here on the Fairmont if you ordered the factory a/c. I loved the (over)styling! I especially liked how the 2x digital bar gauges could show fuel and water temp, and then at the flick of the button it was amps and oil – and if you had it on amps and the fuel was running low, it would flick back to fuel and flash. It was great until the control module went pfffft in about 1988, and the repair bill was eye-watering!
My grandparents traded it in 1991 on a new EA2 Fairmont Ghia, which had the digital speedo and analog tacho. Having the (low!) redline at 12 o’clock was interesting, but hardly called for in a luxury car. That the EB went back to a carbon copy of the XD-E full instruments (present in my grandparents’ XE Ghia) says it all really.
As a kid in the 1980’s, I always thought the Vauxhall digital dash was out of this world. However, I now prefer traditional analogue gauges.
As a motorcyclist as well, the traditional round gauge is disappearing on bikes, being replaced by compact digital displays.
I’ve always loved the dash on the Eagle Premier. I may be the only guy that does.
Nope, you’re not (quite) alone. I always thought of it as a “poor man’s” version of one of my all-time favorites, the Renault 25 (see Johannes’ comment above)… but still awesome in its own right. Sadly, the Renault never showed up here in the US, and the Premier/Monaco has basically evaporated.
I had one of these as during the mid 1990s. There was about 2 dozen of them in Toledo. I can’t even remember the last time I even saw one on the road. Mine was great, I never had a problem with it. Unfortunately, it was rear ended in 1997 and despite being in near perfect condition the insurance company totaled it. I remember having to getting a part at my local Jeep/Eagle dealer and the service department manager laughed at me and said I had the only one that didn’t seem to have a problem. I miss that car immensely!
I’d say the STE, then a toss up between the Vette and the Firebird.
I miss my ’86 STE’s dash… and the annoying BEEP every time a warning light came on, or if a bulb was out – god help you if there was a brake light out, as it would check it EVERY time you hit the brakes. With 6 (7 if you include the CHMSL) bulbs, I replaced them all every time one would go out, just to avoid the incessant beeping.
T/A
Sigh. These 80s dashes are still depressing to me. No wonder I drove so many 60s cars in the 80s.
I remember the “graph paper” background which for me seemed to start around 1988 or so…I remember a rental car (probably a Cavallier) that had round speedometer and other instruments, and wondering what function (except for styling) the graph paper backgrond had…not that it didn’t look good, but it wasn’t like you were “plotting” speed or gas level, you were looking at instantaneous not trend data…
I liked the instrument panel on my Mk1 Scirocco…neat looking, and it kept the controls
“high up” without having to have a massive central console…I wish VW kept this “ergonomic” design without going to the same central console focus like they do today…with heater and radio mounted much lower.
I didn’t particularly like how my Mk2 GTI instrument panel looked (too many blank switch positions around the speedometer/tach)…that seemed to be a trend in the
’80s where they clustered bunches of controls “around” the steering wheel.
The oddest one to me was the ’86 Mitsubishi Galant, which had an odd “flipper” turn signal pod kind of like the old chrysler turn signal levers mounted on a pod to the left of the wheel, then had HVAC controls on a pod on the other side…undoubtedly handy but how often do I need to adjust the HVAC to justify the “premium” accessabily position near the steering wheel? They also had the wheel mounted remote radio controls.
Also, seemed like most of the “premium” stereos had graphics equilizers on them…don’t see this much at all now, but that was considered to be “high end” stereo (along with auto-reversing tape decks).
The other wierd marketing thing I remember from the 80’s was the overuse of the “turbo” word…even on things without what I thought was turbocharger…such as “Turbo Pascal” or “Turbo C”…I also still think of the mid-80’s Nissan 350ZX commercial when I hear the word “awesome”…remember the commercial where after the guy finishes driving he does a long whistle followed by the single word “awesome”. Makes me think the guy was able to drive over deep water without the car sinking or something…like everything is “awesome” including some pretty mundane stuff.
Unless I scanned too fast – can’t believe no one has nominated the Subaru XT – it was a video game in a car!
That’s not a Subaru XT cluster, the XT had 2 bar graph lanes on each side of the car, representing boost and tach, making it look like something from Pole Position.
Someone mentioned it a few posts above.
That Olds cluster brings back memories. After one of my junk yard expeditions I brought one home for my father’s Oldsmobile. Told him it would look much better than the bar speedo/idiot light cluster that was in his Cutlass.
He gave me his ever popular “you pissing money away on dumb crap” look that I saw all to often back then….and he had the cluster installed by the next weekend.
Check out this page for a great rundown of some 80’s to early 90’s GM dashes:
http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f19/look-back-some-early-gm-digital-dashboards-109305/
Similar to the Daytona/Laser, the OmniRizon cars also offered surprisingly complete (optional) instrumentation for basic econoboxes. I’ll admit that looking at these gauges in my ’84 Turismo made it feel “sporty,” though in reality they were the only aspect of the car that did. (Well, except for the tape stripes, of course.)
I also liked how the pattern of the warning lights in the right pod (sort of) resembled the Plymouth fratzog from the sixties.
Photo is from AllPar.
Well it is from the 1980’s and it is attached to a 1980’s car so I am choosing the dash from K.I.T.T
I can still hear William Daniels “Michael” voice…
I like the Buick Regal T-Type/Grand National LED tachometer and boost gauge.
Wasn’t there a optional cluster on a Eurosport Chevy Celebrity that had a tach like that?
Yes, I think It was in the PRNDL square when you got a floor shifter. Even rarer is a Celebrity police spec cluster with a 120mph certified speedometer.
The first 2 photos are from a Turbo Dodge Shadow right?
Are you kidding me? I guess I have to represent.
Another big French car that gave you the spaceship feeling !
I was wondering when somebody would nominate the CX. Although I admire the early series, I have a slight preference for dashboard in the second-series GTi I used to have – nice combination of analog gauges with the switch-pods.
70’s dash.
Up to 1984. The ’85 and on dash was the one I saw in my Prestige:
And just in case you didn’t get enough with the CX, allow me to present the GSA:
Not really a car, but I always liked the dash on the McDonnell Douglas MD-88…which first flew in 1988 🙂
It has been about ten years but I spent many days rewiring the panels in -30 and MD-82. It takes about an hour to pull all three main panels out, all wires up thru 20 cannon plugs.
Porsche 944:
Some mentioned a few I forgot. I will post them.
1988 Pontiac Grand Prix:
1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme:
1988 Buick Regal:
Pontiac 6000 STE:
1988 Lincoln Town Car:
cant believe no one else has mentioned the mk1 austin metro
OK, I know it dates from the 70s, but what about the Porsche 928 with the instrument binnacle that tilts with the steering wheel? I prefer MB green lacklighting to BMW red backlighting, whatever that’s worth. I do miss oil pressure and coolant temp gauges…especially with a worn out old car, it’s nice to know what’s going on under the hood. My W126 would get hot if it idled too long on a really hot day…had to watch the temp gauge creeping up, and the oil pressure creeping down, sitting in the drivethrough line at Sonic.
I don’t know what model the car is or year but it looks cool