It really is a love or hate type thing. I can honestly say I have never met someone that was indifferent towards them. The digital dash craze from the 1980's is something that today I do miss. Maybe it is just a over hyped memory from my childhood. Seeing the 3 square pods on the dash of a first generation C4 Corvette light up was like magic to me! It was as close to Knight Rider as you could get and for a 7 year old boy that was a big deal! The digital dash in the first generation 300zx was pretty darn snappy as well. I loved the big swooping tachometer on the 300zx, it was like something right out of Star Wars. (Laser power at full!! Fire! Fire!)
Looking back now I know they may seem a bit dated. The digital dash has proven a bit problematic over the years as well. I say they should bring back the digital dash! (at least as an option) With today's technology I can only imagine the light show they could put together! Everything seems so cookie cutter and generic now days. There is so much parts bin sharing, cars have lost their uniqueness on the interior.
Hey, one can dream right! A new Knight Rider remake is in the works.. Maybe it will spawn inspiration once again to the new generation of auto designers.
(Hey if anyone has a really cool picture of their car with a digital dash all lit up.. Please feel free to drop me a message and I'll be glad to post them.. Thanks!!!)
Monday, October 15, 2007
Random Rants: The 80's Sheik Digital Dash
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3 comments:
Interesting Idea! My mother had a Ford Thunderbird Elan (I think they only made it for like 3 years in the 80's). The entire dash was digital! And the cool thing was you could change it from standard to metric. The first time I did it to mom she was at a stop light. I reached over and hit the button, so we were going in kilometers. It took her a second to realize why people were honking at her for going slow. Hehe.
However, I think today, the digital dash would be a lot easier. It would just be an LCD screen (like on the Iphone or laptop), and everything displayed on it would be software driven (and thus easier).
Look at the dash of the newer 740 BMW (complete with night vision). It is really knight rider realized (sans the super hard shell, laser, and turbo speed).
I love digital dashboards, the way they make you feel like your driving a jet.
I have a picture of my old 86 supra turbo digital dash all lit up, how do i post/ send it?.
Hey.. ya that would be awesome! Love to see some pics of your Supra all lit up! You can send pics to cartestride@yahoo.com thanks so much!
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