Clocks

[forddeliveryboy]

 

I love clocks, dials, gauges - things with real moving needles and fine springy things, cogs and other mechanical jewelry hidden behind the face. Directly connected by mechanical means to the mechanical bits under the engine, sometimes with dials within a dial, often with nice old filament warning lamps glowing through coloured lenses and whose exact colours often told you what nationality or even make of car you were in, they make me warm inside. The most expensive cars still attempt simplicity with dials, a lot of mass-produced vehicles give you a headache with computer displays flashing and glaring at you no matter what buttons are pressed.

 

British motor cars, I believe, had some of the loveliest clocks to be seen anywhere and the clock which told the time was often as aesthetically-pleasing, even though it had no connection with the car's workings. Black metal faces with lovely ivory-coloured numerals and beautifully-formed pointers, the name of the maker etched in smaller print near the bottom of the dial, sometimes the car's make instead. This clock is in a Ford Model T.

 

 

 

This is an old British car,

 

 

and this a modern Japanese one.

 

 

 

 

The clock which told the time, the least important, was quickly replaced by a digital one - they were cheap, supposedly more accurate and were new and 'high tech'. They even vanished when the ignition went off, Some experimented with digital speedometers and other dials, with little success. Today, the physical dial is vanishing, replaced with an electronic display which resembles needles and dials. They haven't yet replicated the dull red of an IGN lamp glowing gently, when all the electrical accessories are on.and the engine idling.

 

 

 

New Jags may be good, but I wouldn't wish to stare at this thing every day - when will manufacturers (besides them what make the new Rollers) realise we see enough of a computer screen without one behind the steering wheel?

 

 

But I've noticed some manufacturers are once again fitting analogue time clocks, which is a massive improvement on digital, even if it is a 99p quartz movement. I would have an eight-day wall clock mounted on my bonnet if it were practical (could I call it a head-up display?) - in fdb's opinion, a digital timepiece in a car is about as attractive as yesterday's lunch.

 

From 'noblesse oblige',

 

  to 

 

And finally, probably one of the all-time greats

 

[Squire_Dawson]

It's one of the reasons so many of us drive old shite.

 

Modern cars are boring etc.

[gordonbennet]

Dash, incl the clocks, indeed the whole gentlemans club atmosphere of the Rover 75 is what really attracted them to me when they first came out.

[Asimo]

[pshome]

.. and when the manufacturer failed, aftermarket would take care of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

The fact that the speedo and tach needles don't rest in the same position would drive me insane. 

[Honey Badger]

Nowt wrong with the digital dash on my S2000, it's clear and concise and the rev counter looks wayyyyy cool as it runs from one side of the dash to the other.

 

[cort1977]

Totally agree with this, one of the things that I love about the 1600E is the extra dials in the dash, makes me feel all prepared and a grown up motorist with my spares kit and trusty AA Book of the Road in the back.

[xtriple]

Dashboards are one of my 'must have' things when buying a car. It 'must' have a tacho (rev counter, while more appealing to say is just sooooooo wrong!) and as many gauges as possible so as to extract the maximum amount of stress from me while driving. Oil pressure gauges alone can give me panic attacks... still got to have one though!

 

I like analogue gauges. I nearly had a Rover 75 because of the dash and that reason alone. Had a few cars/bikes with digital/electronic displays and they are ... okay, but I prefer proper clocks.

[barefoot]

What I don't understand is this...

0 - 70 takes up about 90 degrees of the speedo's travel.

Really it should be just short of 270 degrees then at a glance you'd have a bloody good idea of how fast you are going. Like the mini/morry thou one maxing at 90mph

Its so rare that I get to go any faster, it becomes irrelevant.

[jbz2079]

I've always thought that an engine temperature indicator  that actually reads in real time an item that was indispensable.

How many recent  cars  are not fitted with one.

 

You instinctively knew where it used to sit when indicating normal running temperature and if it read different it gave a clue to something abnormal under the bonnet.

An overheat light is a bit like sending a second class letter, once it has tripped untold damage has already been done. 

 

Tachometers are a nice extra, but unless your engine has a very high state of tune, unnecessary.

You can hear and feel how fast an engine is turning.

 

Oil pressure gauges are handy when buying something you know nothing about, but how many high mileage engines have you seen that indicate

almost no oil pressure when properly hot, but carry on regardless as the oil is still circulating?

 

A big bank of gauges always looks impressive, but in real life they are only any good if they read correctly.

[twosmoke300]

Two words to make the geeks and engineers go all misty eyed .(they do me anyway)

 

 

Bourdon tube.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

What I don't understand is this...

0 - 70 takes up about 90 degrees of the speedo's travel.

Really it should be just short of 270 degrees then at a glance you'd have a bloody good idea of how fast you are going. Like the mini/morry thou one maxing at 90mph

Its so rare that I get to go any faster, it becomes irrelevant.

 

Yes, 100%. The biggest advantage of analogue speedos is that you can read them without actually reading them. That's lost when they have to cover a car's massive, irrelevant top speed.

 

Here's a bad one. Look at the tiny portion of it which covers legal UK speeds. The difference between, say, 20 and 30 is minuscule, and as this angry man points out you have no chance if you're somewhere speeds change in increments of 5.

 

[twosmoke300]

Some Saab Speedos have bigger graduations for lower speeds

[fordperv]

I love analogue dials, I had to install proper boost, oil pressure and ammeter in the Mrs rs turbo, she constantly glances and knows if the needles aren't where they are supposed to be something's wrong,

 

I don't have as much as a digital clock in any of my cars this makes me happy

[brickwall]

My old Supra had the digital mountain climb thing for the revs and the speedo flicked around driving me bonkers.

 

Good ol' clock face is the dogs boz.

[Negative Creep]

Am I the only one who gets annoyed by digital clocks that are only 12 hour?

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I hate the clock in my Chrysler,it's a twee old fashioned looking thing In the style of a Maserati Biturbo. Totally unnecessaryas it sits above the 'infotainment' screen which has a digital clock permanently showing even when the radio and sat nav are switched off,oh and the backlighting is a different colour to the other clocks.

As I'm sitting I the thing now,here's a picture:

[Guest Facelifted75]

Citroen kicked ass at clocks! Has anyone ever seen the CX's clock?

[seth]

Key ring/stick on dash watch/clock in the form of a tyre I picked up, then later found adverts for it in 1950s or 60s Practical Motorist mags or similar.  I later made the bow so I could hang it but it generally just lives on my workbench.

 

[forddeliveryboy]

I hate the clock in my Chrysler,it's a twee old fashioned looking thing In the style of a Maserati Biturbo. Totally unnecessaryas it sits above the 'infotainment' screen which has a digital clock permanently showing even when the radio and sat nav are switched off,oh and the backlighting is a different colour to the other clocks.

As I'm sitting I the thing now,here's a picture:image.jpg

 

I'd take the analogue time clock over the infotainment display, even if purely for safety's sake. Some cars would benefit from a steering wheel like the one below, rather than having to navigate screen menus.

 

 

 

I've always thought that an engine temperature indicator  that actually reads in real time an item that was indispensable.

How many recent  cars  are not fitted with one.

 

Tachometers are a nice extra, but unless your engine has a very high state of tune, unnecessary.

You can hear and feel how fast an engine is turning.

 

Agree with your coolant temp dial, not so sure you're right with the engine speed clock. Some old cars have engines which don't make it obvious how fast they're spinning - mostly boxers.

 

I'd like gauges which indicate the fuel temp and front brake caliper temp. But I run on veg oil and often have to use brakes quite a lot.

[Inspector Morose]

I think it was lotus but probably the same with others, but I always used to like that when manufacturers used to turn the dials so that when everything was okay, all of the needles were pointing skywards at 12 o clock so that you could tell if anything was wrong at a quick glance. A little thing that told me that someone gave a shit once.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

I like the old capillary temperature gauges. It's nice to get back into the car and see how warm the engine still is before the key's even in the ignition.

 

Some Saab Speedos have bigger graduations for lower speeds

Volkswagen's current stuff is non linear too. I know the Golf's increases in 10s until about 80, then 20s. A neat solution.

[JohnDeere]

Here's one like my (non-shite) new clock.  It looks nice, totally useless as you can't read it from the driver's seat.  There are two digital clocks for that.

 

[Asimo]

 

Citroen are not always so generous with clocks. (Mehari 4x4)

[Des]

The gold speedo in older Moggies is exquisite.

[Rusty Pelican]

Old fashioned clocks fitted into dead bits of tree get me every time.

 

[forddeliveryboy]

IMG_0006.jpg

 

Citroen are not always so generous with clocks. (Mehari 4x4)

 

Or gear levers. The English market GS used the same clocks rather than the wacky Frog set up, it was rather decent.

 

Some Saab owners have got a bit carried away, perhaps inspired by the 99 turbo dashtop boost gauge.

 

[twosmoke300]

That is terrible

[overrun]

The fact that the speedo and tach needles don't rest in the same position would drive me insane. 

 

I kinda like my Escorts dials.

 

 

Although when the needles point straight down are generally my favourite style. Like a Porsche rev counter.