Nothing illustrates my mantra of Stewart Warner Is The King Of Gauges, than this spread from Custom Craft magazine in 1955.
You'll notice, or if not, take my word for it, that EVERY single set is comprised of SW speedometers, tachometers and accessory gauges. And there are a couple of SW panels as well.
Let's take a look...
The star of this page is definitely the Jack McDermott 1929 Ford roadster Auburn panel.
It's a chromed 1932 Auburn panel, with a full row of SW gauges. This is pretty much the gold-standard for hot-rodders. Expect to pay $4,000 for a comparable set-up today...
Here, the one set that jumps out is the Bill Welch set-up for his 1929. It's a beautiful Stewart Warner Marine Panel.
I have owned several of these panels, and the difference is the size of the speedometer. Whereas the Auburn panel speedo will run 3-3/8", this one takes approximately a three-incher. They are harder to come by, especially in the higher MPH, and usually have to be calibrated and re-faced.
Here's an example; an old Allard, and an empty SW panel for illustration...
The Allard gauge above is the front-mount version; the panel below it would take the back-mount bezel gauge.
In the next post, we'll take a look at an out of the box choice for a mid-Fifties hot rod dash, a 1933 Packard set!
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