Car Dashboards as Works of Art

New State-of-the-Art Dashboard Concepts
Original "dashboards" were simply wooden barriers to protect the horse carriage driver from splashes (or "dashes") of dirt thrown up by the horse's hooves. Much has changed since...
Modern dashboards are significantly more than just arrangements of knobs and dials around a steering wheel. At their best, new concept
dashboards feel more like clouds of futuristic worlds, enveloping the driver and lifting him into a stratosphere of high style and impeccable taste.

Granted, some of the recent concept dashboards are so wildly bizarre that it's hard to imagine yourself "easing into" such an environment, much less simply concentrating on driving. Other dashboards seem to be designed only to "buck the trend" and come up with something radical and shocking that rival companies have not tried yet. (Fresh concepts are expected to appear every year at different auto shows, making automotive design a highly dynamic and competitive field). And yet, there are plenty of fantastic dashboards to be found in modern concept cars to inspire and excite the most demanding of drivers.

Renault DeSir's concept car's interior is all about flowing shapes and typical French visual harmony:

The 2007 Mazda Taiki has a beautiful, Art Nouveau inspired dashboard, with pulsating red "veins" of light flowing around a steering wheel like some sort of decadent liquor (is it possible to get intoxicated by just looking at this gorgeous design?):

Another Mazda concept, the 2007 Mazda Ryuga has some sort of futuristic space fighter interior (featuring what is probably the best-looking instrument cluster ever designed for a dashboard) - a much appreciated "breath of fresh air" when it comes to stale mass-produced dashboard layouts:

There are a few too many intersecting planes and angles here for our liking, but the Toyota FT-HS makes up for the resulting visual complexity with an austere, yet highly ergonomic, driver's seat:

The Citroen C-Cactus features some incredible, flowery cut-outs (even on the bottom of the steering wheel column), and can probably compete with the VW hippie van for "flower power" appeal:

The Citroen Revolte concept car sports a futuristic dashboard, which is only slightly marred by the awkward rectangle of the computer display:

Here is a very clean looking 2001 Volvo ACC dashboard with a pretty good integration of a rectangular iPad-sized screen in this case:

A very inviting 2009 Cadillac ELR interior: appropriately edgy and high-tech, and yet luxurious enough... Prestigious design, done right:

Looking back at the Toyota FXS from 2001, we are impressed with a distinct Art Deco feel to the whole layout, enhanced by mysterious blue tones:

Speaking of Art Deco themes, I find this nautically-themed 2008 Buick Riviera's interior inviting (if a little crude on the overall finish and detailing, which is to be expected from a preliminary concept model):

This great Japanese pod, 2007 Nissan Roundbox, is like an impossibly hip living room, art studio and maybe even "cloud-based" workplace all rolled into one:

Well, time to show a few dashboard oddities: here is the Russian 2003 Russo-Baltique Impression supercar, boasting acres of wood (we hope that it is not plastic):

Spyker cars have always been different from the mainstream, a rare thing unto itself (though, as some point out, not necessarily a thing-of-beauty), and this 2001 Spyker C8 Laviolette is no exception, with its incredible orange theme and sophisticated-looking stainless steel pedal assembly:

All curves and bulbous surfaces, like a spaceship escape pod, 2009 Nissan Qazana is "so bizarre it almost looks French" (this quote comes from a car magazine obviously not very content with most of the American cookie-cutter dashboards, so I consider it a compliment to the French):

Minimalism in dashboard design can be a wonderful thing. Here is a very classy dashboard of the Morgan Life Car (read our article why Morgan cars are so different):

Less is certainly more inside 2001 Hispano-Suiza K8:

Descending from the lofty heights of concept car designs we enter the production supercar territory. There are many classic dashboard beauties to mention (enough for its own article), but here are a couple of Lamborghini Diablo interiors, just so that we could peek inside and marvel.... at all this carbon fibre in Lamborghini Diablo VT 6.0:

the mystique of the deep blue velvet Lamborghini Diablo SE30 interior; truly an iron fist in a velvet glove:

Dashboards of the Fifties: A Smorgasbord of Touchable Delights

These sculptures of leather and chrome could easily be displayed in future art galleries and fondled, touched, and caressed by our descendants in puzzled appreciation (by this time in the future, all dashboards will probably be replaced by a floating holographic voice-driven interface, so the metal knobs and soft padding of 1950s dashboards would seem quaint enough). Here is one of the best (and wildly strange) dashboards of the period, a red 1956 Buick Centurion wonder:

More tame and very classy 1950s Chrysler Imperial dashboards:

Written By Awais Ali