I could’ve sworn it was one of dad’s Chevrolets but it could well have been mom’s 1965 Galaxie 500. I didn’t really start paying attention until we were all driving 60’s models so I can’t say what instrumentation was in previous vehicles.
Oh Boy, a trip down memory lane…
One of the many cars I had a teenager (c.1967…) was a 1961 Buick La Sabre. The speedometer was actually installed flat in the dash and a mirror was used to view it. On the right side of the mirror was a dial (visible in photo) next to the mirror to adjust the angle so no matter your height, you could adjust it for viewing.
On left side of the mirror was another dial to adjust a “bar” that would slide up the MPH numbers. When you hit that pre-set adjustment, a buzzer would sound to let you know you exceeded that setting. I set mine for a full 120 MPH and never heard that buzzer again…
Some more facts about that car: One was it had a “big” 364ci engine that could barely enable it to pass a stopped milk truck…
The first time I changed the oil, I put in 6-quarts, I started it up and it really sounded weird. I stopped the engine and checked the dipstick and practically had oil coming out the tube. I checked Chilton’s and found out it only took 4-quarts. The extra two quarts were being whipped by the spinning crankshaft…
The tranny was a two-speed Dynaflow automatic transmission. The actual low gear was only accessible with the shifter is “L” (Low position). In drive “D”, the tranny depended on a variable pitch (limited slip) torque converter to let the engine build some RPMs to accelerate…
My girlfriend loved that car; She named it “Snow White” because the car was “Virgin White, with a Cherry Red Interior…”
I did not keep it very long and I have no regrets and that girlfriend lasted on a little while longer and no regrets there either…
I vaguely remember the mirror thing but can’t recall which car. Friend of my sister pulled up in their new 60 Buick though and we had a good look at that. Maybe that’s where it was if they had it in 60. I really liked that 60 Buick.
My recollection is that is a view of a Studebaker dashboard.
Am I correct?
Yes, Studebaker Speedometer
You know, the thing I dislike the most about the newer displays that you have posted is the lack of a coolant temperature gauge in place of an icon that goes from blue to off to red.
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I have a temperature display in my 2017 Accord and my wife has one on her 2019 Odyssey.
My grandmother has just the color changing icon in her newer Subaru (either a 19 or 20) Outback. I just noticed it when we were visiting last week and went with her to pick up food.
These are pet peeves of mine, too. However, you can make a set of gauges however you see fit with an inexpensive app like Torque or OBDFusion and an OBD2 bluetooth transmitter. It seems that you can even display the custom dashboard on the vehicle’s built-in screen if you have Android Auto or Apple Car Play. But it is one more thing you have to fiddle with when you start your car.
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If you look at the photo of my various vehicles in the very first posting that started this topic, you’ll notice that the '85 Corolla, the '01 Ram, and the '10 Toyota Hatchback all have real time coolant temperature gauges.
The '20 Honda Fit (bottom right in the photo) does not have that feature, nor as an option on the various information displays. It does; however, have a very nice thermometer icon on the left side of the dash, over the tachometer (visible in blue as I shot the photo just after starting the engine). The owner’s manual says the icon turns Red in an overheat condition and will flash if the coolant level is low.
One other feature that I think I would improve are the “Econ” indicator lights (visible in the photo as Blue Arcs on each side of the speedometer). Since the engine is just idling, it thinks I’m wasting gas and the lights are Blue. When I’m driving economically (basically maintaining a moderate speed on a level roadway) the lights turn Green. So they are either blue (wasting gas, destroying the ozone layer…) or green (saving the environment…) all the time…
If I was to reprogram those lights, I would add a Red feature to indicate that I am driving aggressively… Yeah I know, I’m being silly, it’s a Honda Fit…
This might help to explain why Honda dropped the Fit from its U.S. lineup after this model year.
“Hasta la vista, baby”
Don’t be fooled by temperature ‘gauges’ that are actually just ‘low/medium/high’ readouts.
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my 09 Focus read real time (or at least it looked like it!)…when my water outlet blew the 1st time, I had the absolute joy and pleasure of watching my coolant temp gauge go high, then watch as it modulated a little while I blasted the heater to bring it down a little while I was pulling off to the side of the highway…
And during an extremely cold winter in the northeast, when going down the highway at 75 mph the higher I turned the heat I would watch the coolant go from mid to 1/3 and back up as I turned the heater down. Scientifically calibrated? Doubtful, but it definitely wasn’t a 3 step gauge.
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I think the major reason why they dropped the Fit from their US lineup was because they read the tea leaves and realized that there is more profit in selling SUV-like vehicles, even if they are very small. Just take the chassis and most of the mechanicals of the Fit, design a new body for it, and–voila!–you have the Honda HRV.
The HRV and the Fit are built on the same assembly line in Honda’s Mexican factory, so you know that there is a great mechanical overlap between the two, but Honda is surely pocketing more moola by dropping the Fit and pushing their “new” HRV.
I do believe those econ indicators are just glorified vacuum gauges or they used to be. Maybe they are electronic now. My FIL had that in his Pontiac back in the 70’s or so. Nothing against having a vacuum gauge on your dash but if we are adding instruments, I’d rather have a trans temp or oil temp instead.
Yes, they have been electronic since–at least–2011. But, the econ indicator on my 2011 Outback is pretty primitive in comparison with the one on my friend’s 2021 Forester. That one simultaneously displays current mpg, historical mpg, and the number of miles to “empty” without toggling to different readouts, as my car requires. Clearly, a vacuum gauge couldn’t accomplish those tasks.
My 650i has an oil temp gauge but only an idiot light for water temp.