Clocks and Gauges In Cars

Here are a couple from my ‘62 MGA.

Gosh, I miss this view.

1995 993 C2. But always lusted after a 993 C2S or 964 Turbo or wide body. Like ‘em hips.

Fav thread in a while. I’m moved to contribute...I’m off!

I loved the Smiths gauges in my first car, a 1970 MG Midget - until the engine temperature one got stuck on ‘normal’ and the engine overheated and seized 😲

Dash clocks are cool, I just got this Heuer Master-time

Whole display at the Larz Anderson auto museum

Kienzle clock in a Lotus Plus Two 130/5 JPS. Couldn't get the door wider to get a face-on shot without risking the fresh paintwork 🙁



The other instruments are Smiths so why not the clock too?

Not cars but I was also really interested in clocks in airplanes for a while!
I went to the Aeronautics museum in Narita Japan and noticed they had clocks in some of their exhibits.

So here's a mockup of a Bell X-1 they had that you can enter and stuff

Umm they had no clock! Much disappoint.
But they had this oddball clock in a A6M Zero mockup they had

A6M Zeros should have Seikosha clocks on them but oh well. This actually worked though! I wound it to the max and set the time too. 😁

Boeing cockpit! See the clock?

Here are a couple of shots of my 1966 (built 1965) Austin-Healey 3000 Mk. III dash. Note the similarity of the Smiths instruments with the Jaeger instruments found on the Jaguar and the MG like Jantar's a few posts above.



So what do we know about Jaeger gauges versus Smiths gauges?

First here is an article which links Jaeger gauges to Jaeger LeCoulre:

Lessons In Wristory: Jaeger Automotive Instruments

So why are Jaeger automotive instruments and Smiths instruments so much alike?

Smiths Industry instruments

A key bit of information:

"Founded in London in 1851 by Samuel Smith as S. Smith and Son, the concern got its start making watches and clocks as well as selling jewelry and precious stones. Success allowed them to expand to a larger location and open additional shops in the 1870s when Samuel Smith, Jr. took over. Their reputation had grown near the end of the 19th century such that they advertised as “Watchmakers to the Admiralty and the Royal Observatories.” But it was with the dawn of the automobile that Smiths really came into their own."

and . . .

"Throughout the decade following the war, Smiths’ gauge business flourished, as did other facets of their automobile supply business. They purchased M.L. Magneto in 1919 and K.L.G. Sparking Plugs in 1927, the same year they acquired the rights to produce Jaeger instrumentation for the British market under license. British Jaeger gauges are essentially re-branded Smiths gauges. But in 1930, Smiths sold off all of their businesses related to lighting, starting and ignition, including M.L. Magneto, to Lucas, and the two companies agreed not to manufacture products that the other already had an established foothold in. It’s hard to believe such a deal would pass antitrust muster today. If you’ve ever wondered why a car full of Smiths gauges typically had a Lucas ammeter, it’s because Smiths left that business to Lucas."

So we see that both Jaeger (Jaeger LeCoulre) and Smiths instruments evolved from the watchmaking business and eventually their paths crossed and a partnership of sorts was formed concerning automotive instruments.

keep threatening to put her in my Land Cruiser...

What an enjoyable thread!

I’ve had this Lucas in a box for years. Chrome is ok - starting to pit - and it ticks but needs a good going over. No idea what car it came out of.