Here's a dash set-up that was wowing them on the car show circuit, circa 1950. It's pretty busy, with everything but the kitchen sink mounted in front of the driver (and passenger, even).
The centerpiece is a 1932 Auburn gauge panel, filled with Stewart Warner gauges, and then a plethora of doodads, gimcrack and gingerbread.
The panel, reading from left to right, includes a 325 oil temperature gauge, oil pressure (probably either a 100 or 150 psi), a 100mph speedometer, a high-range water-temp, an original tube-read fuel gauge, and below the engine-turned insert is an amperes, could be 30, or maybe 60 range.
The switch slots across the bottom are filled with who-knows-God-what, but I imagine light switch, starter, wipers, warning lights, as well as four extras drilled above into the insert, indicator lights or buttons.
The SW 4-thousand RPM tachometer is mounted off to the side, with more warning gauges, an oil warning set-up (this guy was really concerned about oil pressure). also what looks like a couple of dummy (non-functional) gauges (I don't think he has that many lines to monitor, unless he also has a refrigerator under the hood) and lots of buttons and lights.
Lots.
It's obvious that this guy fell in love with dials. Believe me, I know how easy that is. But it's nice to know that it's not just me, and that gauge-fever was epidemic even back then, in the Golden Age of hot-rodding.
A nice shot of it was reproduced in the 1951 Custom Cars Annual, put out by Trend Books.
No comments:
Post a Comment