Sunday, April 13, 2014

Dissect A Dash #7: Show Car Edition!



The following is a selection of custom dashboards from the late 1950's to 1960, courtesy of Car Speed & Style magazine, April, 1960.

Let's take a closer look at some of these gauge set-ups from 14 award-winning show cars, shall we?



Here's an eye-catcher; a chromed panel set into a black dash, and a cool "Weird-O" stick-shift knob head. That is definitely the closest you will see to a "rat rod" look in any of these examples...


The padded dash was a big trend at this time...




Here is a great classic look. They've taken a Stewart Warner "Hollywood" panel, and run it upside down,,,




...which is very cool, and filled out the indicator lights with Cole Hersee "low-profile" boat lights.



It's a look that holds up even today.




More padded-dashes above, and a "Straight Five" SW panel in the top picture; nice.


Another SW Straight Five in the second picture, but this one...


...this one I love. It's the perfect blend of simplicity and design, a Stewart Warner boat panel in a hot rod Ford. These are neat panels that are still floating around today, and look great in any 30's rod.


It's originally a Chris Craft set-up, but with a speedo instead of the twin-tach, you've got a cool and functional gauge panel!


And notice something familiar here? That's right, it's the Hollywood panel from above, this time mounted the standard way.


A cool, dash, tuck-n-roll interior, an Impala steering wheel, and you're good to go!

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