When upgrading or replacing their gauges, oftentimes customers are either looking for true-to-stock dashes and gauges or want to have something one-of-kind in their vehicle, regardless of whether it’s period-correct or not.
“It seems like customers are pretty split, some want that original style, whether it’s the color of the gauges or the fonts,” said Jake Steen, president of Haneline Products. “There are just as many guys that are looking at an opportunity to upgrade and be unique at the same time, so they’re looking at a way to differentiate their vehicle from the guy parked next to them at a car show so they’ll use a gauge that doesn’t necessarily look original or have that stock feel.”
For his dash customers, though, Steen has found more interest in options that somewhat maintain a stock look.
“What we have seen is more people are open to non-stock options that are available now,” he said. “It’s getting to a point where people are more willing to go away from stock but still wanting to maintain somewhat of a stock appearance. Obviously, there are guys out there that do total custom fabrication and they’re creating a one-off-type dash, but the large majority of the general public that’s building these cars do something where it’s showing an aftermarket upgrade but still maintaining somewhat of a stock appearance.”
While Haneline serves customers interested in stock and custom styling, other gauge and dash manufacturers and retailers are reaching out to an audience with a definite preference for one look over the other.
A Truly Classic Look
Dakota Digital makes digital instrumentation for customers who want modern gauges with a stock feel.
Dakota Digital offers this digital instrument system for 1955-1956 Chevy models.
“For us, what’s in very high demand is a lot of direct-fit type of applications where somebody can remove the stock gauge cluster. We have a new one that fits directly into the same place and adds several new features that were not there from the factory, and it fits without cutting and without modifying [the dash],” said Scott Johnson, sales manager for Dakota Digital.
The company takes its design cues from the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s to offer customers a nostalgic feel.
“We use a lot of chrome. It was used a fair amount [then], so a lot of that is used to really replicate some of those themes,” Johnson said. “We use some brushed aluminum as well and just a lot of metal work to be consistent with what was there. I think materials are very important.”
Classic styling is an important factor for New Vintage USA customers as well.
This 1969 Series muscle car gauge kit from New Vintage USA features era-matching mint green graphics.
“What a lot of people are going for more is they want their cars to [have] more of a period look,” said Mark Surel, president of the instrument manufacturer. “There are extremes; there are people into the pure traditionalist side where they only buy stuff from that era and that stuff is not going to be around much longer so we try and bring some of that feel to our products.”
The company works to replicate the feel of the stock instruments while incorporating contemporary technology and materials.
“The material is important and we get quite a few people asking us why we use plastic housings, but as far as plastic housings go, you get a lot better control over the size and you get a lot better control over the feeling of the lens to the housing,” Surel said. “Our product has Packard connectors on the back and you’re able to incorporate that into the housing. You don’t get magnetic interferences, so, in the long run, plastic housings, the part you don’t see, are better for construction-quality pretty much everything.”
The Vair Shop, a Frankfort, Illinois-based restoration shop specializing in Corvairs, refurbishes original gauges when possible but also turns to the aftermarket when replacement gauges are needed.
“Most of our dash work is repair of the original-style gauges the car did or could have come with,” said President Larry Claypool. “If a reproduction part is available for that model, then that’s usually the most cost-effective way to get everything working and looking right, but for many vehicles, repair of the original is the only option.”
In addition to restoring or replacing existing gauges, Claypool sometimes adds additional gauges but makes sure they match as closely as possible to the other instruments.
“Often that equates to a set of gauges underneath the dashboard, and when we choose those, we often try to coordinate the styling of the gauge, the face and the needle colors with what’s already in the factory dashboard and the cluster,” he said.
“Since we don’t do full custom builds where a guy can buy a whole new matched set, our customers are keeping basically a stock car and what I try and direct them to is some continuity in their aftermarket gauge choices so that it just doesn’t look so out of place underneath the dashboard.”
Standing Out From the Crowd
Thom Ophos of Godspeed Rides, a metal-shaping and chassis-building shop in Brownburg, Indiana, said he recently did work for a customer who wanted his gauges to do anything but blend in.
“Right now I’m doing a ‘69 Camaro and the customer wants the speedometer in a half-moon shape and he wants it to sweep underneath backward, so we can’t buy that,” he said. “The cluster that we’re building for the dash fits the rest of the theme of the car; you can’t buy gauges that would be able to be incorporated in that so we make them fit the design.”
Though his work is custom, Ophos likes his gauge and dash upgrades to fit naturally with the feel of the vehicle.
“It’s usually pretty unique to the car and the car will generally have a flow of how things go so we want to make all the parts on the car go along with it. [We want] everything to look seamless so at the end of the project it looks like it came from the factory, but is just a more-modern version of it or a more-refined version,” he said.
Classic Instruments, an aftermarket instrumentation company, offers its customers period-feel but not a totally restored look.
“I think that the majority of our customers aren’t looking for a restoration look, they’re actually looking for something a little more personal to their car, something that sets it apart,” said Zac Compton. “If a customer is going for a true restoration, they’re probably not going to seek out what we have to offer.”
Customers who have upgraded their engines can buy gauges from the company that measure the increased performance.
“On the retro-fit projects, the newer engines run different RPM, enthusiasts are driving the cars at faster speeds and the cars building in the ‘30s and ‘40s, the top speeds on the speedometers were, at most, 100 mph and enthusiasts want to have a speedometer that registers higher than that and we have that capability,” Compton said.
“We actually just recently had a customer that was going to run a salt flat car and he wanted to have a speedometer that was going to go upward of 300 mph, and that is a service through our custom department that we’re willing to provide— a gauge that will read up to that speed.”
Dream Machines, a metal fabrication and restoration shop in Toronto, is also incorporating contemporary features to modernize its customers’ vehicles.
“Often the requirement to upgrade instruments stems from a desire to monitor a greater amount of information or to increase the range of measurement capability,” John Edwards, the shop’s owner said. “An extreme example would be the Model A Bonneville. The original 60- mph speedometer, site glass/float fuel gauge and 6-volt amp gauge will not serve your 200-plus-mph, nitromethane-fueled, 16-volt vehicle, and now you need to monitor boost levels, oil temperature, etc.”
Dream Machines will sometimes completely remove a dash, and custom-fabricate a new dash and gauges to meet their customer’s vision for their vehicle.
“A big purpose for removing the dash is [the customer] actually wants to remove that element from the vehicle, that older appearance, and they want to go to such an extreme to start fresh and modernize the whole thing,” Edwards said.
The shop likes to involve customers in the creation of the new dash.
“Even customers that often try to avoid that part of it, like they want to leave that in our hands to do, I still like to involve them just so we’re not equipping something in there that pleases us but doesn’t suit their personal preferences,” Edwards said. “Usually, we’ll try to get input from them as to what their preferences are, even if they’re not the same as ours, it’s their vehicle, they’re the customer, so we will normally try to accommodate their preferences.”
The Best Fit
Whether targeting customers who want a period-correct or completely custom look, talking about the ultimate design goal for the vehicle is key to installing dashes and gauges that will be a perfect complement for the vehicle’s total look.
“We always ask, ‘What’s the theme of the car?’” said New Vintage USA’s Surel. “The style is what brings them in and I always ask, ‘What’s the theme of the car?’ and I don’t tell people what they should get but I try to steer them toward something that’s going to be right for the car.” ashes
Tags: Classic Instruments, Dakota Digital, Electrical, Gauges & Dashes, Interior
