Dashing Dashboards…

Do you remember the first old car dash that really made an impact on you? Of all the parts of the classic cars we own and drive, it’s arguably the instrument panel, steering wheel, and essentially the entire dash board that we see the most! The one panel design that will always stand out to me is the one in my 1949 Lincoln Cosmopolitan. It was a jeweled piece of art with so many details and styling cues, that I discovered something new almost every time I drove it. For instance, the first time driving through a dark tunnel without the lights on and realizing the gauge letters and numbers were painted with phosphorus, and therefore glowed in the dark: Mind blowing! The parking brake warning was a beveled glass disc that emitted a warm red light as it blinked. Each hand control had a chrome-plated base, that was then gold painted and set behind a deep glass face to give it depth. It’s crazy to think that all this effort was for a one-year-only dash, as Lincoln completely redesigned and modernized it the very next year! So what’s the old car dash that stands out in your mind?