Best and worst instrument fonts

[Noel Tidybeard]

sevel vans 🤢

[chaseracer]

On 09/09/2025 at 23:09, AnnoyingPentium said:

The one from the last shape Starlet (pre-Yaris) isn't something I can get with. Feels a bit too aftermarket Windows 95 font pack for me.

That speedo font looks like something off a 1960s travel alarm clock.

[beko1987]

I was never keen on the font my 2002 Peugeot 406 used

[95 quid Peugeot]

This font is very similar to the "ghost train" that i had on my Dauphine

[Honey Badger]

Clear and precise, like most Honda instruments. Legend KB1. 

 

S2000, the clearest and easy to use set of digital instruments I've seen.

 

The Lexus IS200/300 dash is brilliant, everything is close together and easy to see with nothing getting in the way. 

I don't understand the love for Smiths or British dashes from cars from the 60,70s and 80s, crappy little sets that only gave a slight approximation of what's actually going on, However put the same dials in a Triumph 2500 or Dolomite wooden dash and they look great.

[Noel Tidybeard]

i quite like the clarity of the civic 10 although the centre set are fake dials!🤣

[vtec-e]

1 hour ago, Honey Badger said:

 

I don't understand the love for Smiths or British dashes from cars from the 60,70s and 80s, crappy little sets that only gave a slight approximation of what's actually going on, However put the same dials in a Triumph 2500 or Dolomite wooden dash and they look great.

 

I have to agree about the great look of the Triumph dashboard

 

[wesacosa]

2 hours ago, Honey Badger said:

Clear and precise, like most Honda instruments. Legend KB1. 

 

S2000, the clearest and easy to use set of digital instruments I've seen.

 

The Lexus IS200/300 dash is brilliant, everything is close together and easy to see with nothing getting in the way. 

I don't understand the love for Smiths or British dashes from cars from the 60,70s and 80s, crappy little sets that only gave a slight approximation of what's actually going on, However put the same dials in a Triumph 2500 or Dolomite wooden dash and they look great.

My 2000 had the earlier instruments which I preferred as the rev counter was bigger!

 

[Zelandeth]

31 minutes ago, vtec-e said:

 

I have to agree about the great look of the Triumph dashboard

 

The Trivial Pursuit pie warning light cluster is a lovely bit of design too.  Far tidier and more compact than the norm for the time.

Reminds me of Bedford's solution to commercial instrumentation in the Y series.  Usually you'd have a plethora of separate gauges and random warning lights scattered all over the dash.  They provided fuel, temperature, a duplex air pressure gauge and all of the normal warning lights in a single circular cluster with the same diameter as a standard tachograph speedometer so it matches the thing next to it.

Neat and tidy, which wasn't really the norm for commercial vehicles in the 70s.

[vaughant]

This was my fave set of clocks in Peru much any car I've ever owned, fantastic. Looking back they're really easy to read now as well. Even easier in mph as obvs the numbers get to 100 quicker in km/h.

I put the dash in my Uno 60s and remarkably it all worked pretty much straightaway, only needed a feed from the coil to operate the rev counter. 

You could even get the boost gauge moving albeit the wrong way as it was an economy gauge in the 60s.

However I did own a turbo a couple of years later and it was an amazing, if hopelessly unreliable car 🤣🤣🤣.

[vtec-e]

 

The Civic's dash was clear and easy to read, but I was used to looking at it for a lot of miles .......

[stuboy]

Dunno is the crv ok?

[Volksy]

On 12/09/2025 at 08:47, 95 quid Peugeot said:

This font is very similar to the "ghost train" that i had on my Dauphine

Was that the actual font? I always thought that the plastic had gone wibbely with age! 🤣

[Rusty_Rocket]

I can't stand the 2010ish era Mercedes gauges.  This italic typeface looks cheap and chintzy, especially compared to older Benz's that were so clear and classy -

I have a 1981 Porsche 924.  These gauges are awkward to see through the steering wheel, but also have convex 'glass' (plastic) that distorts the view further.  They also have a tiny black plastic blob in the middle of the lens, with no function at all.  Not the best picture -

[warren t claim]

I can remember when Volvo used the same font in both their trucks and cars. Same with BMW cars and bikes.

[Zelandeth]

33 minutes ago, warren t claim said:

I can remember when Volvo used the same font in both their trucks and cars. Same with BMW cars and bikes.

This typeface in Volvo's case.

They did actually continue it with the generation after this.  I don't have a decent photo of that though.

[Rustybullethole]

Always liked the Smiths in my old Toledo. Have one in my caravan.

Accompanied by a temp gauge and barometer of the type found in your Nan's hallway.

[MJK 24]

Best - Lotus Elise S1

Worst - Lotus Elise S2

[EyesWeldedShut]

1 minute ago, MJK 24 said:

Worst - Lotus Elise S2

That's a winner for me - looks like something you'd get on a Chinese forklift truck

[MJK 24]

Just now, EyesWeldedShut said:

That's a winner for me - looks like something you'd get on a Chinese forklift truck

I think they looked relevant and contemporary for about 18 months.  Really dated now.

[Snipes]

Really dislike Rev  counters with no redline. 

[Missy Charm]

On 13/09/2025 at 15:35, Rusty_Rocket said:

I can't stand the 2010ish era Mercedes gauges.  This italic typeface looks cheap and chintzy, especially compared to older Benz's that were so clear and classy -

I have a 1981 Porsche 924.  These gauges are awkward to see through the steering wheel, but also have convex 'glass' (plastic) that distorts the view further.  They also have a tiny black plastic blob in the middle of the lens, with no function at all.  Not the best picture -

Agree with you regarding the Mercedes dashboard.  I was a front-seat passenger in a Mercedes taxi a little while ago, took a look at the instruments and controls and formed the opinion that they were horrible!

The one I really like is the 'cocktail stick' dashboard from the late nineties Fiesta:

Driving one and imagining a green olive stuck on the end of the rev. counter needle was always fun!  In fact, driving one fitted with the sixteen-valve engine was fun full stop.  

p.s.: sorry for the general decrepitude of the plastic cowls in the photo.  It's a stock image from the internet and the best I could find.  

[caffeine]

On 13/09/2025 at 15:35, Rusty_Rocket said:

I can't stand the 2010ish era Mercedes gauges.  This italic typeface looks cheap and chintzy, especially compared to older Benz's that were so clear and classy -

 

The third generation A-Class really took the naff-ness up a level with a tacky, try-hard ‘sporty’ aesthetic, the overall effect somehow managing to look like stickers that might have been affixed to something made by Little Tikes;


 

9 hours ago, Missy Charm said:

p.s.: sorry for the general decrepitude of the plastic cowls in the photo.  It's a stock image from the internet and the best I could find.  

Likewise.☝️

[AndyW201]

Can't get a decent pic of the ones in my car, but I love the dials in my W202 C Class. Germanically stark, clear and tasteful, One of the last Mercs to use that font they'd used for decades.

Only slight annoyance is, as on my previous 190s, the temperature gauge is calibrated so as when the car is at it's normal operating temperature of 90°, the needle is pointing over half way.

[Datsuncog]

Always liked the font (and layout) used on my Viva HC:

Maybe not super-accurate, but I found it stylish.

[Lacquer Peel]

19 hours ago, Snipes said:

Really dislike Rev  counters with no redline. 

 

[warren t claim]

19 hours ago, Snipes said:

Really dislike Rev  counters with no redline. 

Mid 70s to early 80s Fords were the worst offenders.

[grogee]

19 hours ago, AndyW201 said:

Can't get a decent pic of the ones in my car, but I love the dials in my W202 C Class. Germanically stark, clear and tasteful, One of the last Mercs to use that font they'd used for decades.

Only slight annoyance is, as on my previous 190s, the temperature gauge is calibrated so as when the car is at it's normal operating temperature of 90°, the needle is pointing over half way.

That's interesting. The font looks similar to this Honda Triumph Acclaim. I suspect the engineers looked at it and decided to copy based on the fact it was good enough for MB

[barefoot]

On 14/09/2025 at 18:15, MJK 24 said:

 

I particularly dislike fonts that aren't properly horizontal. I don't know what the word is to describe how these numbers are formatted, but it's wank. 

[Zelandeth]

2 hours ago, grogee said:

That's interesting. The font looks similar to this Honda Triumph Acclaim. I suspect the engineers looked at it and decided to copy based on the fact it was good enough for MB

I always liked the instruments on the Acclaim.  Very nicely clear and with properly sized warning lights you could actually see.  I seem to remember the illumination being quite pleasing to the eye as well.

I don't understand why it has become standard for warning lights to be so bloody tiny on modern cars.