Modern dashboards are confusing? 40 years ago they could have done something about that too!

We often get lost when we drive modern cars. Especially if you have to access the menu via the main touchscreen for everything. That was more clear. Until you see the performance of this forty-year-old Brit…

In the 1980s, most Japanese cars in particular had a digital odometer, because digital was still very new and hip. How cool would it be to put the whole instrument in digits? William Towns agreed with the idea Aston Martin already started in 1976. He had designed a large sports sedan that would show that Britain was still capable of technical things.

Complaints about modern dashboards? 40 years ago they could have done something about that too!

He escaped from a science fiction movie

The Aston Martin Lagonda itself looks like it has escaped from a sci-fi movie. That doesn’t cut it in. The Lagonda’s digital dashboard gives the impression of being built by a mad professor – or by NASA. It was later calculated that the creation of the instrument panel cost four times the entire budget that Aston Martin had set aside for the entire car…

The very first copy of the Aston Martin Lagonda was not presented until April 1978, although all the technology was still flawless. The cars in the picture are from 1984.

Like a gaming console

Because of its size, the digital dashboard is very reminiscent of a game console from the arcade. Who is up for a game of Space Invaders? There are multiple touch buttons on the left and right to operate all the different systems, including opening the hood.

However, we cannot detect much logic in the placement of the keys. There also seems to be little ergonomic research behind the specs. The fact that there is text on the keys instead of quickly interpreted symbols doesn’t help either.

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Symbols and text mixed together

Symbols have been used on instruments, although not frequently. For example, the current charge light shows the text again battery. The red LEDs show what the microprocessors have measured: oil pressure, oil temperature, water temperature, outside temperature, oil level or charging current.

A hint

A bit like the i-Cockpit from Peugeot

The time is displayed in the center in the Lagona, rpm and speed are on the right above the small single-spoke steering wheel, directly in view of the (only) driver. A bit like the iCockpit of modern Peugeots. In this respect, the Aston Martin Lagonda is truly ahead of its time…

Still, we’re glad the car industry hasn’t followed Aston Martin’s lead…