While one part of of the design department was working on the exterior of the 164, another department was working on the instrument panel and the ergonomic design of its surrounding.
Initially the instrument panel had a lot of similarities with the Guillietta's instruments; on the second picture you see the contra rotating RPM indicator which was so recognizable for the Guillietta.
In my humble opinion, I'm glad they continued until they had the design they used in the first series.
On the picture below you can see the first test cars already had the first series instrument panel, but still used a pre-production steering wheel.(It must have been chilly that day; he has the rear window defog on.)
Last edited by 164 TD on Sun Jan 17, 2010 6:42 am, edited 3 times in total.
Interesting, already you can see the desire to achieve a clean, uncluttered design, continuing the exterior design filosophy on the inside. Although I find my 'Super' model ski-slope design still fresh and contemporary, the original design is possibly more what the 164 is all about.
Hey cute; great story Arjen! Photo's I have never seen. Super.
There still was a lot of changing in the end. (before production).
-Steering wheel
-Dashboard
-Instrumentpanel
In my upinion there was a lot of effort put in the 164.
The 'horse shoe' type instrumentpanel looks too much 'Buck Rogers' style seventies to me.
The final instrumentpanel that made it into the first series looks more distinguised, in my opinion more than the one later placed in the FL/Super types.
(I recollect the selftest in which the entire horizontal bar came on, with the 2 unnecessary wing lights on both ends of the horizontal bar; brilliant !)
The first series had an additional Alfa Romeo Control control unit, the FL/Super had this one built in the instrument panel.
164 TD said:
The final instrumentpanel that made it into the first series looks more distinguised, in my opinion more than the one later placed in the FL/Super types.
I agree; although my desire to own a 164 became almost unbearable by the time Alfa launched the Super (still one of the most successful 'facelifts' ever executed on a car) and I thought at the time that the 'Super' treatment made the car perfect, I guess that from a design purity point of view the original design was better.
(I recollect the selftest in which the entire horizontal bar came on, with the 2 unnecessary wing lights on both ends of the horizontal bar; brilliant !)
These are the little tidbits of info I just love to read about. Didn't know this; would love to see an upload video of it.
After I dissassembled my 1990 TD after 431.000 kms of duty, certain parts remained in my posession; the instrumentpanel is one of them and has a prominent place now in my livingroom.
I pulled the lightbulbholders out, placed it above a TL light and made the following picture:
Note the two useless 'wings' on each side of the horizontal bar, the city lights indicator (left of the battery light), and the turbopressure indicator and overboost light.
None of the above made it to the FL/Super series instrumentpanel.
