Awesome Interiors & Crazy Instrument Panels: The 1960-62 Chrysler Astrodome Interior
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- čas přidán 20. 10. 2022
- Learn more about the Chrysler Astrodome interior on the 1960-62 Chryslers (Windsor, Saratoga, New Yorker, and the Newport - depending on the year).
I am 87 years old. I actually owned one. The most beautiful instrument panel I have ever seen.
The days of guilt free driving and actually having enjoyment while driving 😊. Today we have not left our children the fun and excitement which we once had with our fantastic vehicles
I'm in awe of these at car shows. Inarguably the most vivid instrument panel of the era, perhaps of all time. It's totally Forbidden Planet.
Those dome clusters were always one of my favorites.
I remember as a child seeing an Astra Dome cluster on a Chrysler and it blew my mind!
I had a 1960 New Yorker for about 18 years.
Finally ! My favorite car! with the Astro-Dome instrument panel. We had a 1960 Chrysler Windsor withe Golden Lion engine and Astro-dome panel and all the green segmented lights for all the buttons and knobs. My dad was an Air Force pilot and we got transferred to France in 61 and we took the car with us. Even went on a trip to Switzerland in it. That big car on those small European streets was special and lots of looks from the locals. I sure loved that car but they sold it in Apple Valley California in 1967 to an apple farmer. The last I saw of it was that farmer driving off from the gas station in Victorville Ca. where we meet up for the sale.
You nailed it. My parents had the 62 Newport two door hardtop. Fantastic car. Handled like a sports car and had plenty of get up and go with the standard 361 V-8. The astradome was a thing of beauty at night. I could see the reflection of it in the drivers window at night while being a young kid who thought it was the coolest thing in the world. Ours lacked the clear steering wheel, but I do remember it being flat on the bottom. Watching the steering wheel correct itself after a turn was fun to watch because you could almost get dizzy as a result the lack of roundness. I thought the turn signal was like magic, after a turn it would go back to position by itself. Also the radio to my very young ears had such a warm sound. It said Golden Tone on the radio and that was no joke. You had to wait a minute or so for the radio to warm up, but it was worth it. I've never heard an AM radio sound this good since ours met its maker in November of 1972 when it was totaled by a drunk driver who wiped put two of our cars while speeding down our street late one Friday night. My final ride in that car was good Friday 1973. My dad delivered the car so my uncle could extract the motor to put in his 1940 Chevrolet Master Deluxe Panel, were it sits to this day. My dad was a body man and could have repaired it, but he said though drivable after cutting most of the left rear off the car to make it drivable that it was a total. Plus my parents had bought a brand new 1972 Mercury Montego MX 2 door hardtop a few months prior. A brand new 1972 Pinto replaced the Chrysler which at the time was a mixed bag. I loved the Pinto, but I really missed and still miss the 62 Chrysler.
The Astrodome instrument panel was electroluminescent, a technology that really underscores how experimental Chrysler was in the 1950s-1960s. Electroluminescence (EL) is an optical and electrical phenomenon, in which a material emits light in response to the passage of an electric current or to a strong electric field. This is distinct from black body light emission resulting from heat (incandescence), a chemical reaction (chemiluminescence), sound (sonoluminescence), or other mechanical action (mechanoluminescence). Electroluminescence is the result of radiative recombination of electrons and holes in a material, usually a semiconductor. The excited electrons release their energy as photons - light. Prior to recombination, electrons and holes may be separated either by doping the material to form a p-n junction (in semiconductor electroluminescent devices such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs)) or through excitation by impact of high-energy electrons accelerated by a strong electric field (as with the phosphors in electroluminescent displays). The most modern incarnation of electroluminescence are the popular organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays in smartphones and TVs.
Back in the mid 90's, a member of the San Francisco based Freewheelers Classic Car Club, drove his white '60 300F hardtop to one of our evening meetings.
My very first car (we all remember them right?) Was the 1962 Chrysler 300 four-door. That dashboard was absolutely spectacular! That Astrodome instrument cluster was awesome during the daytime, but it was unbelievably beautiful at night. The pale blue panelescent lighting is something you'll never forget! I got this car when I was 17 years old.... And the car was already nine years old. But it was my 'honey'. She rode on the road like a big boat. And how that Chrome did gleam!!!
I agree the 1960 dash is a high watermark. I have a 1960 Windsor sedan and a 1960 Brerarian ambulance based on the wagon.
The video I've been waiting for! My favourite instrument cluster finally gets its moment in the spotlight. The speedometer goes up to 150 on this model, which was unusual.
All these older cars really are fascinating. Works of art.
I bought a 61 or 62 Chrysler with the Astrodome in 1973 for $50.00. It was a great car everything worked. Also came with what we called the factory moon lights in the back window. The car was so quiet and rode so well it was like flying a spaceship down those lonely country highways and backroads at night.
I had a 61 300G with that set up. All the little needles glowed as well. They were individually wired. All accessory items, clock, teach, etc had that glowing needle. There was some sort of special little transformer up under the dash to provided separate current for this system. There were clear plastic light tubes that allowed all the a/C and the transmission functions to glow as well using a back light. Quite clever and thorough for the day.
The Astrodome IP was on another level from anything else.
The Astrodome instrument cluster may be long gone but square or ‘squircle’ steering wheels are definitely making a comeback.
My Father had a 1960 Chrysler New Yorker Station Wagon I loved that car That dashboard at nite was amazing It had a 413 Golden Lion engine and a rear facing 3rd seat SO COOL
I like that one in the thumbnail. Very stylish. Edsel had some kind of rotating speed dial and the push button gear selector was in the middle of the steering wheel.