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Garry in AZ

Garry in AZ

Building a 9 second Valiant
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This is a weird question, but it's something that's been bugging me for a week or so. Back in the 1960's (I was a little kid) my uncle would come to visit every summer. And every summer he would have a new car. He drove a lot of MOPAR's, but not exclusively. He did not drive anything that wasn't from Detroit. He drove the first Barracuda I ever saw, which was my favorite. Anyway...
I distinctly remember going for a ride with him one year, and as a kid, I was fascinated by the "barrel style" speedometer his new car had. As best as I can recall, the speedometer was a rotating drum sort of deal with all the numbers painted on it, and there was an opening in the dash where you could read your speed through the "window". I think the numbers were white, and the background paint color changed from green to yellow to red as the speeds increased. Maybe the numbers changed colors.... I can't remember for sure it was almost 60 years ago. I also can't recall if the barrel rotated on a vertical or horizontal axis.
Here's what's driving me nuts... What kind of car was this? I've Googled for hours, and can't find an image of the speedo as I recall it. I do know for sure it was NOT the late 60's Oldsmobile Toronado. I know for sure he did not have one of those cars. Does anyone have any idea what car had a speedo like I described?
 
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Check 66 charger fastback dash cluster. Im not sure if that's the one,but I remember it being pretty cool when I was young
 
The Chargers had that awesome illumination, but the speedo was a normal one, round with a needle. Thanks anyway though!
 
Boy, did your post trigger a memory I haven't thought about in years!
I bet your uncle's car was an early 60s Oldsmobile. My parents bought a new 1961 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 and I remember the speedometer was exactly as you described.
Following is from Wikipedia (Oldsmobile 88 - Wikipedia) for the 5th generation Oldsmobiles:

All Oldsmobiles featured the "speed bar" speedometer. Introduced in 1959, the speedometer used a rolling black cylinder with sections painted brilliant green, yellow and bright red. As the car went from a standing stop forward in speed, the cylinder rolled, first exposing the green in a window that matched the numeric speed on stationary speed dial for low speeds, yellow at moderate speeds, and finally red at highway speeds. Drivers who topped the car over 100 mph moved the cylinder into an area where only the black base color was visible.

Also check out this eBay ad for the speedometer cylinder:
NEW NOS 1961 OLDSMOBILE SPEEDOMETER SPEED INDICATOR CYLINDER 5655056 | eBay

 
I had a 1960 oldsmobile that had the barrel Speedo just like you described



but it looks like Buick and maybe Plymouth had similar barrel speedometers
 
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1960 Buick lesabre.

IMG_20190320_173821.JPG
 
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Citroen DX ?
Not Detroit, shoot, not even from the same continent, but barrel style Speedo

In fact, MY uncle had one, and I remember him backing up at 180 KM/H
(At least, according to the Speedo, which would wind the wrong way when going backwards)
 
Garry in AZ said:
This is a weird question, but it's something that's been bugging me for a week or so. Back in the 1960's (I was a little kid) my uncle would come to visit every summer. And every summer he would have a new car. He drove a lot of MOPAR's, but not exclusively. He did not drive anything that wasn't from Detroit. He drove the first Barracuda I ever saw, which was my favorite. Anyway...
I distinctly remember going for a ride with him one year, and as a kid, I was fascinated by the "barrel style" speedometer his new car had. As best as I can recall, the speedometer was a rotating drum sort of deal with all the numbers painted on it, and there was an opening in the dash where you could read your speed through the "window". I think the numbers were white, and the background paint color changed from green to yellow to red as the speeds increased. Maybe the numbers changed colors.... I can't remember for sure it was almost 60 years ago. I also can't recall if the barrel rotated on a vertical or horizontal axis.
Here's what's driving me nuts... What kind of car was this? I've Googled for hours, and can't find an image of the speedo as I recall it. I do know for sure it was NOT the late 60's Oldsmobile Toronado. I know for sure he did not have one of those cars. Does anyone have any idea what car had a speedo like I described?
Click to expand...

Early Thunderbird (I had a 65) has those as well, and I even got to take one apart.
The drum rotates on a horizontal axis and when you looked at how the drum was painted it was a simple pattern.
There were different styles that varied per manufacturer as well, but I don't think any of them had the numbers on the drum itself.
Here's a couple of examples.

102-0246_IMG.jpg


4066383012_1c09c14c8e.jpg
 
Thanks for the replies fellas, but I'm obviously not describing it good enough. Sorry about that.
What I'm trying to describe is not a "ribbon" style speedo, where a colored indicator travels across a speedometer. (Olds and Desoto examples)
The one I'm trying to describe has the numbers on the rotating drum. There is a small opening, or window in the dash where just the speed you are travelling shows. It's sort of like the picture below but this is not it. The photo is from a 67 Oldsmobile, and he did not have one of those.

9db208fe742e9c451bb2834f2e37d454.jpg
 
This is the closest pic I can find, but not it. This is from a 1956 Studebaker.

s-l640.jpg
 
That style, yes, but on his, either the numbers or the background changed color as the speed increased.
Thanks!
 


It doesn't look like the Riviera changed colors

Only other one I can find that's anywhere close is 1958 edsel, but it looks more like a compass and can't tell if it changes color, did it have pushbutton automatic in the middle of the steering wheel?

2.jpg
 
Thanks for the research Steve, but it's not either one of those. I really appreciate the efforts though! Thanks!
 
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