What’s On The Inside Always Matters

In my view…..very difficult to beat the Porsche dash – 911’s. This would be from the early 911’s through say the late 80’s. So well thought out…..and that particular VDO design is the best I’ve ever seen. It truly sets the standard. This is particularly true of the 930’s.

Ferrari 288 GTO.
1975 Mazda rx-4/929 a friends car
1989 Porsche 944 s2 a friends car, i really dig the steering wheel, its so good! Gauges also look really nice and simple to look at.
My own 1989 Mazda s5 rx-7 turbo, i like the dashboard design, also installed VDO gauges for oil temp. and pressure + water temp. and a RE-Amemiya 80mm boost gauge. VDO just looks so good in a old car. I know the last two cars aren’t exactly classics but still they’re half a year older than myself.

The interior in our 400 GT is ,in my opinion, the best!

Ford GT40 or Lancia Delta S4 Stradale, can’t decide which one.

If I had a favorite it’d be the interior of the 1958 Plymouth Fury, and I love the simplicity of the first gen Minis (British Layland, not BMW’s dark plush design, it’s too busy)

I love my interior in my 1989 Volvo 240, it’s a bit bland, but it’s got Swedish charm. An air of utilitarian design with little features that give it tons of personality, like heated velour seats and other features that are nowhere near the driver, like the AC controls, lol.

1955 OSCA mt4 Vignale Coupe

The interior of my ’67 Ferrari 330 beats everything of the period

Porsche 928 Pasha interior
http://s.petrolicious.com/2013/history/porsche/porsche-928-2.jpg

For a road car, I don’t know that it’s ever gotten better than the 300SL…..

Well, to be honest, the picture you chose to illustrate this article is probable one of the best designed interiors to me, good old E30’s ! Everything is designed for the driver, the whole dashboard feels like it’s turning around you, and therefore anybody else who’s sitting in the car at the same moment can feel a little uncomfortable but, who cares, it’s a driver’s car ! Funnily enough, out of all the cars I’ve had the chance to drive, I think the toyota supra mk4 is the one that came the closest to that E30’s feeling…

I generally like no-nonsense race car interiors, but it just occurred to me what my favorite car interior is (was). When I was a child I was shuttled around by my parents in a ’69 AMX. I’ll never forget the layout, the feel, the look, the smell, the sounds. It had what was called a (Mark) Donohue dash, of I think only like 10 were made. What a car. Should have kept that one in the family when I had the chance… talk about a beast of a machine. I remember when my mother would pick me up from grade… Read more »

Love the simplicity of my 02 interior

Lamborghini Jarama, the horizontally oriented switchgear, while unique, is difficult to read and the console mounted stereo actually faces backwards making it impossible to read from a seated position. On the other hand, the driving position, foot well, shifter position, etc. are outstanding.

The interior represents a time before focus groups, design review committees and safety mandates, when both mistakes and triumphs sometimes found their way to production, and A pillars weren’t 4 inches thick to hold air bag airbag 7 and 8.

I love the one in Stratos. Something of an afterthought turned into brilliant resolution.

I might be biased, but I think Alfa Romeo’s interiors during the 60s and 70s were just about perfect. I’ll talk about the Spider, because it’s the one I know best. The dials shaded by massive tubes, the small gauges, oriented towards the driver, surrounded by chrome, the long shifter, the deepest ever dishes steering wheel, the flat dash … Much like the exterior of the car, it’s a collection of rather normal shapes, nothing terribly radical or particularly beautiful. But together they create this ensemble that works in unison with the lines of the car. I think this is… Read more »

Freaky Fiat Multipla dash to suit its funky but very consequent concept: offer living space and good visibility for 6 passengers (3 per row). I hear that the short wheelbase and wide track even offered fairly good handling.

Alfa Romeo’s 164 interior stroke me the other day by being very 80’s with its blocky style (look at that central air vent and the square button tiles below!) but also came in some very plush incarnations. I guess that the glory of old was no more (Alfa 6 was the last “upper class” Alfa) and that they tried to transfer some of that glory to the top spec 164s.

Another striking Lotus interior is found in the Elise Club Racer. Even more stripped down than the interior of the standard Elise it showed a lot of bare metal structure and featured seat shells painted in one of the bold exterior colors with only minimal padding.

The interior of the first Lotus Evora was design-wise very ambitious including the wrap-around contrasting band that included the dashboard itself and went all the way around and across the +2 seats in the back. A good place to be even if quality and the operation of some of the flash sitting buttons were flawed. Disappointing to see an aftermarket stereo/navi, too. But hey that’s small scale manufacturer issues for you. Driving position and those great Sportster CS seats were just perfect for – exactly – driving! 🙂

More TVR extravaganza

Interesting: some small scale manufacturers resorted to using interior bits and bobs from mass manufacturer parts bins. TVR reckoned that they are that small they could justify to have each of their bits carved from metal blocks piece by piece.

Why? Simplicity. There were some backseat memories as well. 😉

First series E-Type (3.8) – the greatest interior. Bucket seats, big wooden wheel , spun alloy dash and tons of switches and gauges. Because sometimes piloting a sports car really should feel like your’re manning a classic fighter plane.

I personally love the interior of way my 1985 Porsche 911 Carrera. All I did was take out the old steering wheel and installed a MOMO Prototipo wheel.
Any time I see a nice sports car I check out the interior, first thing I check and see if it’s a manual transmission. Nothing turns me off more than seeing an automatic in a nice sports car.

EUNOS COSMO !

https://www.google.ca/search?q=Eunos+Cosmo+interior&es_sm=93&biw=1920&bih=955&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=L4iEVchKzuugBNnSuIgH&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#imgrc=XO9pemfHjAnfWM\%253A\%3BwNocBDDRFHb5eM\%3Bhttp\%253A\%252F\%252Fwww.mazdas247.com\%252Fforum\%252Fattachment.php\%253Fattachmentid\%253D202466\%2526d\%253D1368352157\%3Bhttp\%253A\%252F\%252Fwww.mazdas247.com\%252Fforum\%252Fshowthread.php\%253F123829986-My-Eunos-Cosmo-20B-Type-E-1993\%3B2048\%3B1536

Older Bugattis may not be the most comfortable of all, but man are they simple, tasteful and pure.
[url=”http://s23.photobucket.com/user/groomi/media/bugatti_57_atlantic_7.jpg.html”]Here’s the interior of a type 57 Atlantic[/url]

Any Pagani for pure theatre and craftsmanship.

[b]917[/b]

Try these, certainly on my top list. The first-the E Type-really, no explanation except can’t get a real fighter jet in my garage. The second, the BMW 3.0CS, because that’s when BMW was the Ultimate Driving Machine 🙂

I was going to suggest lots of predictable favourites from cars I’ve driven – Alfa Giulia GTV, Datsun 240Z, classic Mini – but then I remembered this shot I took after a few days with a Morgan 3 Wheeler. Not sure whether such an exposed car counts as an “interior” as such, but as far as the look, the sense of occasion and the feel goes, I’ve never sat in a better cabin.

I reckon there is no one interior that is perfect, however there are several that fulfill a specific need very well. The Audi RS4 B5 interior is about as practical an interior as I have come across ever. Everything is in the right place, high quality materials and driving at night in that blue / red light is a pleasure. The TVR Sagaris has to be the best pantomime interior. One of several TVR interiors that are outrageous, on the Sag though the exterior matches the interior. Aston Rapide for being cossetted whilst on a long long drive. You sit… Read more »

Mitsubishi Starion, its like the interior of the Millennium Falcon 😀

Lancia Thema 8.32 with Ferrari Engine, Interior by Poltroon Frau:
http://www.lanciathema.it/images/Ferrari-8.jpg

Alfa SZ by Zagato :
http://www.wallpaperup.com/221333/1989-91_Alfa_Romeo_S-Z__(162C)_supercar_interior_g.html

Link to Cerbera interior picture:
http://www.t-e-j.com/tvr/april2012/tvr_cerbera_4.2_rosso_pearl\%20(10).jpg

The interior of a TVR Cerbera must be one of the most striking caves of an automotive interior.

Maserati 5000GT by Carrozzeria Touring. And yes, this is real gold!

I like a car interior really bare, but I can admire the tactile quality of some newer Audi and stuff, too. But hands down, the best interior to me is Art Deco inspired, dream-of-the-future American cars of old.

I had the pleasure of riding in a Singer Porsche recently, and the interior was just sublime. I’m a sucker for beautiful stitching, perfectly weighted switches, and the pleasure of varying tactile surfaces, and the Singer hit every one of these square on the head. Favorite of all time? Hard to say. But unquestionably a wonderful place to spend time.

I personally like minimalistic interiors which are bold enough to stand out but functional enough to use every day.

The 90s Mazda Cosmo interior is one of my favourites; I love the wrap-around design together with the 90s modernity and the subtle strip wood on the dash

Citroen CX is up there as well along with the simple functionality of a Saab 900 interior, a car which I would love to own some day soon :p

I’d recognise that second to last photo in the main article anywhere…Classic Range Rover. I though it was bland back in the day when I was younger, but I’m with TJ; simple function over form any day. I just didn’t apreciate it at the time. Why oh why are there so many unecessary gizmos on modern cars? I know the answer really, gadgets sell cars, especially to the young. Well, at least they have time on their side figuring them all out. I’d rather just drive…

No matter if old or new I like a proper sport seat as part of the interior. Surely not in every car but in suitably sporty ones. In my eyes a proper sport seat gives a car (and its owner) a lot of street (or track) credibility and substance. A seat is not superficial, you don’t add it for visual effects but for yourself. For your own driving experience. Inner values so to speak. If you open the door and are greeted by a proper sport seat it’s like the car says: “Hello there, let’s go for a ride! I’m… Read more »

TR4A

Probably an obvious choice, but the Porsche Speedster dashboard is one of my favorite things in the world.

Actualy the Audi 80 has a very beautiful interior 😉

I may be biased here but I think the 1965 Nissan Silvia and 67-72′ Mazda Cosmo sport had a couple of the best interiors of the late 60’s era Japanese sports cars. Much more detail on the gauge faces, bezels and steering wheels back then until they were taken over by plastic in the 70’s.

Hate to be the odd man out but in all honesty my favorite interior to date is the one in my modern [ 2011 ] daily driver . Simple , clean , very intuitive , everything I need within reach , nothing extra or unnecessary to be found [ no MBrace GPS etc in my car ] Two rather than a bevy of cup holders , zero distractions and more importantly an unobstructed view and nary a blind spot to be found . In comparison to the classics I’ve owned its my current contemporary’s interior I love hands down ,… Read more »

Favorite dashes in order:

1. 3000GT. It’s almost as if it was a modernized Datusn Z car interior.
2. Volvo 242 turbo. I’ve got a thing for dash centered gauges
3. Volvo 1800 before they used the nasty fake wood.

I have always had a thing for the Volvo P1800s dash. The silver trim with blue centered gages, not the less fortunate wood trim with black plastic trim. Maybe it’s the way all the gages and even the knobs on the radio line up on center across the dash that appeals to my OCD. Maybe it’s the suprise pop of color in the middle of the clocks. There is just something about it that seems perfect.

For me it is the first generation 1963-65 Buick Riviera. That sloping console with real wood that continued straight back to the back of the interior, dividing all 4 seats, was dramatic, comfortable and functional all at the same time.