In my mind, there are few things as eye-catching as the interiors and dashboards of cars from the late ’50s. Modernist shapes, Jet and Space Age influences, and new materials, all taking place in a competitive environment bent on outdoing each other. With novelty often aiming to impress, at any cost. Talk about the perfect environment to create memorable, sometimes outlandish, and groundbreaking designs.
Of those, the ones that came from the Chrysler corporation were among the most striking ones. Filled with aeronautic cues, along with a modernist/futuristic approach and lots of late 1950s technology. Depending on how you feel about the era, stuff to admire with wonder, mockery, or joy.
Why ’59 for today’s visual tour? It’s admittedly somewhat arbitrary. But for one, the Jet Age themes had fully developed by then, just at a time when the world around them had changed. By ’60, some of the competition would start pulling away to safer styling grounds. The previous year had seen sales tumble; yes, the ’58 recession, but regardless, there was a sense the Space Age ideas had outgrown their welcome. Not that Chrysler’s stylists got that memo, since they stayed in the outlandish sci-fi world from ’60 to ’62.
’59 is also a good date to avoid the arrival of the compacts, which would muddy such a comparison to some degree.
But before we go too far, a look at the exteriors of what we’re seeing may be warranted. Not that I found an ideal mix of cars seen from the same angle. Still, the point is to look at how the language of each division stood against the other. From left to right, according to their market position: Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto, and Chrysler. Below, the top offering Imperial.
Clearly, for the uninformed, these shared a lot. Visually, that is (Mechanically, they also clearly did). While Chrysler, with VP of Design Exner, caused a sensation with the finned Forward Look wonders of ’57, they never managed to create a division-specific language in the way GM had perfected by then. By the looks, not quite sure why I would pick a Dodge over a DeSoto… or the other way around. Or either, from a Chrysler or Plymouth.
Also, I find it rather curious how the most ornate and chromiest of them all is the Dodge, a medium-priced brand. Chrysler, above, it’s cleaner and seems to be selling –I guess– a more cultured “restrained” look. For the late ’50s, that is.
The Imperial, is an entirely different beast, of course. The clearest expression of Exner’s clashing preferences for 1930s Classic Era cues and Jet Age styling.
Before we begin, how about a guide as to the corporation’s thinking on these? Let’s use this diagram, from the Dodge Owner’s booklet.
Clearly, stuff will differ for each division, but in general: Critical gauges are in the instrument cluster, with variations on the climate control buttons to the right of the steering, and TorqueFlite buttons to the left (today’s shots are all automatics). Radio properly in the middle, and defroster outlets on top of the dash.
Those are the general basics for most of these; decorated and trimmed according to each division’s liking.
We shall start, where else, but with Plymouth; your entry-level brand into MoPardom. The Plymouth’s shapes and forms are pure Jetsons, from the trapezoidal instrument cluster to the large push buttons and levers that surround it.
- George Jetson, I want heat! (Push button, pull lever, heroically, and heat arrives!)
As can be seen, a variety of colors were also in the cards. And that horn ring is so “orbiting satellite.”
The cluster is eye-grabbing and futuristic, oozing modernity. Materials are, however, of lesser finish than what you’ll see from the other divisions. Neat, and modernist, but not nearly as lavish. Also, the further you go up, fewer stalks and controls are in the steering column. All in accordance with the “upscale” push-button mania of the era.
Less lavish or not, it does cause an impression, which was the main point. Also, from this angle, the dashboard’s optional safety padding can be appreciated. A then-novel concept. (Wrong steering and extra gauges on this Plymouth, however).
Let’s move to Dodge. As expected (even counting the six-plus decades of mods in these survivors), the interior is more lavish in materials and presentation. Prettier chrome is felt, with glitzier instruments and trim. And this one, in striking black and white with red/white exterior, is 1950s epitome.
Of all the divisions shown today, the DeSoto and Dodge have the least distance between them in execution, to my eye.
Oddly, I see more glitz on the Dodge than the DeSoto further down. Instruments seem larger and easier to read as well.
Notice too, the sliding speedo. A curious Space-Age kind of deal, where the indicator slides as speed accrues. Called Indicolor, in Dodge print materials.
Automatic push buttons on the left, and surrounded by lots of texture.
Let’s now move up to DeSoto, with a Firesweep wagon. And this one, in a neat green combination.
A closer shot of the instrument cluster, from a hardtop. And up close, one can argue whether the DeSoto treatment is chromier than Dodge’s.
Climate controls are via push buttons on the right, below plenty of gauges in pretty bezels. Not easy to read if driving enthusiastically, I would think… But is a modern touchscreen any easier?
The TorqueFlite buttons are on the left, in their own area next to the door sill, like the Dodge.
Yes, lots of texture and details to admire in these Jet Age wonders.
Now, to these speedometers. In the case of DeSotos, they came with the Safety Color Accuribbon, which also slides in the open slot as speed increases.
Here it is in action. A neat trick, that I guess would take some time to get used to.
One exception to the wild Space-Age clusters is the Chrysler’s interior. Far cleaner and more purposeful than any of the others shown today. Unlike the rest, it seems to aim for motoring purity.
Not that it isn’t a looker. The bezelled instruments look high grade, and the machine turned surface adds a sporting feel. This is one interior that, six decades later, needs little introduction to a Gen X like me. The one I would spend the least amount of time ogling, or getting acquainted with. Turn the ignition, and get going. What a novelty!
A closer view, which shows this cluster’s purposefulness. One thing, the rear-view mirror on this one reads “night” and “day,” which reminds me the ’59s offered the Mirror-Matic option. No electric cable, however. So no Mirror-Matic on this surviving Chrysler.
But if you wonder, here’s Mirror-Matic. A shortly lived piece of late ’50s tech that would automatically flip the rear mirror to keep glare away from the driver. A neat idea, that in reality, most users found “too sensitive,” and a distraction.
Let’s move to full-screen, push-button wonder with the Imperial’s interior. A wondrous mix of Space Age screen panel, with lots of instruments looking very NASA-like. Also, notice, no stalks on the Imperial’s steering column.
As fitting a corporation’s flagship, the Imperial combines all of the company’s iconic tech of the time. Speed and climate control buttons nicely surrounded the steering, with a sliding speedometer being the central piece above the cluster. Also, sliding gauges of all types, with plenty of switches for a variety of functions.
Chrysler brochures claimed the instrument cluster’s texture was designed to reduce unwanted glare. Err… Does it look like they succeeded? Not to me.
From the passenger’s side, that huge “screen-like” instrument display does create the intended space pod effect. Oddly, for 1960, the Imperial and Chrysler instrument panel philosophies would basically switch, with the Imperial offering large, easier to read gauges (though very stylish), and Chrysler carrying the outlandish Astradome. A far out and prop like piece that would fit nicely in a Star Trek set… of today.
The future was to be far more restrained, of course. Lots of the wonderful technologies extolled in these were just too novel and often, just trouble prone. Also, a great deal was wondrous to look at, but not ergonomic or user friendly. But such are the travails when new materials and technologies appear, which can go from hopeful promise to overdone unfulfillment.
We seem to be on a similar cycle at this time, with the touchscreen onslaught happening in car interiors today. Neat, modern, technically ideal for all known functions and more. But lacking tactile feel and sometimes needing days of acquaintance. I would think we’ll reach an acceptable middle ground, as it usually happens with new tech. What’s impossible to know is in what part of that evolution we are. The hopeful promise in growing pains, or the overdone unfulfillment moment?
A special thanks to Aaron Severson for additional help getting this post together.
Thank you. A lot of fun. And respect to the use of real gauges!
Nice video of the color change. I’ve always wondered how that looked.
Pic #10 has anti-theft ignition on the column. I’m pretty sure nobody used those from ’49 until the government required them. (Ford and Nash had them from ’35 to ’48.) But this one looks factory-made, not aftermarket? Puzzle!
I do love these dashes of the late 1950s, particularly the MoPar ones. Not having to keep one clean, I just get to admire them. I wonder though what they are like in real life. Perhaps Stephen Pellegrino, who I believe has had a few of these, might comment.
One thing that I always find interesting in discussions of mid to late 1950s Jet Age car design is how often The Jetsons is evoked. It’s interesting as the analogy is sort of backwards. The Jetsons didn’t air until 1962 and was largely unsuccessful in initial release (it aired one season in prime time, and then only sort of succeeded when moved to Saturday mornings as a kid show for it’s last 2 seasons). It was also developed in response to another show that took place in a diametrically opposite time and that was in fact extraordinarily successful…The Flintstones (which was developed in response to the quintessentially 1950s – and nearly unwatchable today – The Honeymooners). The Flintstones were what was on the air (1960) when these dashboards were new…and The Flintstones actually stayed quite popular with adults, running as a primetime show for it’s entire 5 year run (including its first 2 seasons where the primary sponsor was Winston cigarettes).
So I wonder…were The Jetsons actually more making light/fun of the ridiculous excesses of jet age design than honoring it?
I do recall that one of the go-to jokes on the Jetsons was how the various pushbuttons that infest George’s 21st century (yup, 2062 is when the Jetsons takes place…just around the corner!) world never produce the effects he desires. So it does seem likely that even by 1962 the public was already pretty disenchanted with the idea of a pushbutton space-age future.
Respectfully, Rich, Dodge was below DeSoto in the ChryCo pecking (and pricing) order. From lowest price to highest, it went Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto, Chrysler, Imperial.
Interesting comparisons nevertheless!
True, I had forgotten they switched positions in the 1930s. It’s updated now.
I think I would need sunglasses to look at those dashboards. Legible they are not.
It’s wild to consider the costs associated with creating the tooling and assembly fixtures needed to manufacture all of the unique components and to assemble four totally different dashboard designs.
A lot of time, effort, and dollars had to have been spent on production equipment to make each of the different castings and machined parts, along with fixturing needed to assemble these components into a complete dashboard assembly. This tooling isn’t cheap!
Then – compare to “corporate” dashboards of the ’80’s and beyond; where in many cases dashboards between different classes of cars from GM, Ford, and Chrysler were essentially identical except for the type and amount of fake wood or chrome that was applied.
When I took metallurgy in college, I learned that 1958, a recession year, was peak in tonnage of chromed zinc die castings in the USA.
Exactly…not only that, but most of the dashes were one year only…even the Plymouth changed in 1960 and 1961 (and 62, though 63 was similar to 62 with a different font on the numbers). Its like Chrysler didn’t think that they needed to save money for eventual downturn. On the other hand, probably someone in marketing would say a different dash every year could be a feature to drive sales…who wants to be driving a car with last year’s dash? They didn’t have the electronics gadgets that seem to be used to sell people on cars these days. But we don’t get the colorful interiors (or exteriors for that matter there are far fewer choices today.
My parents were at the end of their ownership of a ’56 Plymouth Plaza with its “symmetric” dash at this time; after that a series of 2 Rambler Classic wagons, none of which (in my opinion) had anything like a stylish dash. The Ramblers even omitted the decade on the speedometer, 10 was shown as “1” and so on. Still I’m sure my mother (who the Ramblers were bought, since the Plymouth was bought by my Father before he met my mother, also it was manual transmission which my mother has never been comfortable driving).
I think Chrysler really changed in the later 50’s to be much more stylish than in the early 50’s. My Grandfather’s only car was a ’51 Chrysler Windsor, which had a rather plain dash but seemed to be more substantial and they kept using it for several years. In the late 50’s they seemed to push change for change’s sake, though it was also during the “rocket” age, when they tried to align cars with jet aircraft or rockets at any opportunity going into the early 60’s.
Compared to dashboard designs today the design and detailing of those from the 1950s are works of art. I was lucky enough to be a kid in the 1950s and I earned my weekly allowance keeping the family cars spotless. Q-Tips were a must to clean all the crevices, especially on our convertibles. I still use Q-Tips and make-up brushes to clean the instrument panels on my 1966 T-Bird and late model Camaro.
Anyone notice the key in the colum in the shot of the Dodge cluster? Time travel or a colum swap?
Asking from ignorance, but without turn signal stalks, how does one indicate a turn? Arms out the window?
On the Imperial, I think it’s that little chrome lever under the transmission buttons on the left. The probably don’t self-cancel, either.
It did self cancel unless you didn’t turn the wheel enough. Then you could use the little button to cancel the signal.
Switch was on the dashboard. Novel – but stupid as it forced you to take your hands off the wheel to activate or cancel the turn signal.
Some claimed that this feature was because Chrysler steering columns weren’t designed to accommodate a column turn signal switch. The Plymouth column pretty well negates that claim so I think it was just gadgets for the sake of trying to be different.
And Citroen, with the CX, would give the world another nonintuitive turn signal switch. It’s the black rocker switch on top of the left-hand pod.
On the left side of the dash is a switch that you would push to the left or right. In this photo you can see a switch right underneath the transmission shift buttons that you push left or right.
Here’s a closer view of the ’59 Imperial switch. It was the only Chrysler product with this feature in 1959. Chrysler changed to the dashboard switch in Jeff’s photo for the 1960 model.
So flamboyant ! .
I love them all .
-Nate
The Desoto sure brought back memories of the 1959 Firesweep wagon I drove to high school (occasionally) in my senior year. Also to my first year of college, where 4 of us car pooled with whatever car one of the families could spare that day. Ours was pink and white, paint code was “special” meaning what was left over was used. It had dual AC units. I was supposed to use it to take my date and my younger sister and her date to my senior prom. The alternator dad had retrofitted to keep the battery up with the load of two AC system fans chose the moment all 4 of us were loaded and headed out to die at the first corner 1/2 block from home. We ended up in the 1962 Plymouth wagon with it’s Mopar add on AC system (my date was not happy).
awesome era, and i would add the 59 and 60 big mercurys turnpike cruiser and colony park.
I always found it interesting that the Plymouth and the Imperial placed the D button on top of the vertical stack with the R button between the N and 2 button. Anything but intuitive and I believe it was changed in 1960.
The buttons in general were poor ergonomics. Chrysler had it right with the dash lever in ’55, then went to the buttons. Now the dash lever is back in style again!
“Also, sliding gauges of all types, with plenty of toggle switches for a variety of functions.”
Toggle switches in the Imperial? Not seeing that.
That was poorly worded. Some appear to be below the dash, though they’re hard to properly see and hard to tell how they operate from an online image
I don’t think those are toggles. Two of them are manual clock set and trip odometer set. One is the power antenna switch (far left) which might be closest to a toggle (on our ’60 it was a 3-position spring-loaded tab style switch next to the radio) but the “rear air” (rear defroster) and “floor air” controls appear to be missing their knobs because I found a photo that shows they had knob controls. (The ’60 had a Floor Air knob).
When grouped, as in the leader pic, they’re all a touch daunting.. lol
These Mopar instrument panels are cool as an artifact of a time long gone, but I wouldn’t want to live with them on a daily basis. I agree that the Chrysler design is the most functional.
My aunt’s 1961 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 also had one of those color changing speedometer ribbons; it started out as green then changed to orange at 35 mph, and then finally red at 70 mph. One big advantage of this type of design is that the numerals are evenly spaced, unlike the typical ribbon design in which the numerals from about 40 to 80 mph are crammed too close together.
Off the top of my head, I would choose in the 1959-60 time frame the Chevy design which featured a large round speedometer and smaller round displays on either side for the gas gauge and idiot lights. Of course, I would opt for the optional gauge package, which the pictured car doesn’t have.
Fascinating!
What I find especially interesting is how the dashes seem to get more conservative as you go up the corporate ladder. Plymouth has the whiz-bang effect nailed at first glance; it’s only when you take a closer look that you realize what’s not there. And that steering wheel absolutely nails it. The Dodge panel looks very rich, nicer than the DeSoto in my opinion. The Chrysler panel looks perhaps the most conventional in retrospect; the Imperial panel while looking perhaps more upmarket, looks harder to read with the gauges so much smaller, and against that textured silver background – a bit of ’58 Lincoln influence, maybe?
I’m old enough to remember no computerization in cars. All buttons and switches and analog gauges. It’s what we got used to.
My last car was a computer all the way. Lots of complaints. The manufacturer listened and responded with more tactile switches etc. in 2025.
Chrysler had some credible inspiration in this space age design era, being the maker of the Redstone missiles at the time, Chrysler’s space division was much respected during the 50s and this continued into the 1960s with the Saturn 1B rockets.
Beautiful. All of them.
I would prefer any one of them over the boring sameness of today.
Almost every one of these is a tribute to dead end design, pretty much like most 1959 cars. It’s amazing how fast design became more sane in the next few years.
I loved the dash in my 59 Plymouth Fury. Below is a great wide view of one. The steering wheel, with its clear plastic sections, was fabulous!
As attractive, picturesque and eye catching as these Mopar dashboards surely are; I still prefer the more easily read dashboards of the later model 1962 Plymouth.
I love the seats, center console, and the doors. The gauge cluster looks cock-eyed to me and would probably drive me crazy looking at it just like looking at a crooked mirror or picture frame. I want to re-center that speedometer.
Love them all, including the very Scandinavian modern dash of the ’62/63 Dodge and Plymouth, which were clean and functional but cosmetically let down by cheap plastic-chrome that soon looked crappy. The real chrome dazzlers that came before were fantastic, but Plym and DeSoto lacked the full gauges of the others. ’55-64 GM dashes were pretty awesome as well, while Fords were always somewhat lacking in flash.
He didn’t take these pictures. It’s a collection of shots found on the web.
Dash gauges have had an interesting history in American cars. Prior to 1955 all cars had fuel, oil pressure, temperature and battery gauges. Then in 1955 the oil and battery gauges started being replaced by idiot lights. Then the temp gauge disappeared in some GM cars, replaced with red and green lights. In the sixties idiot lights remained, but gauges packages started being offered as an option, restoring the temp, battery and oil gauges. Then in the seventies tachometers started to appear, as optional equipment at first, then becoming virtually standard across the board. Today it seems that fuel and temp gauges are standard, along with a tachometer. Oil and battery guages on cars not available. Trucks are different.
Imperials with the vertical pushbutton layout in the ’50s could drive owners if traded traded every year. The layout changed annually before settling on the 1960 pattern. Here’s how the buttons were laid out from top button to bottom each year:
1957 NRD21, 1958 NDR21, 1959 DNR21, 1960 RND21
I do enjoy my two minutes’ hate of junk from that era – one could see that a recession was seriously imminent.
Have a great one, one and all.