Dashboards should be a simple and straightforward feature in cars. They should give the driver easy access to various functions and communicate the performance and condition of the engine. In a sense, a dashboard is the car’s information center. Even so, many drivers hardly pay any attention to their dashboards, which is a shame as every make and even model has a unique dashboard design and user interface, and some of them are great technologies.
On the other hand, some dashboards just don’t make sense. The most common problem with dashboards is the overabundance of buttons and options that are too complex for the average driver.
While there are many examples, these are ten of the most ridiculous dashboards the auto industry has ever put out to show how easy it is to mess up such a standard feature in automobiles.
10 1988 Pontiac Banshee
Via: barnfinds.com
The Banshee was one of Pontiac’s more unique concept car offerings, but maybe it’s a good thing it never went into production. The outside was beautiful, but inside was a hazy seat that looked like it was carved out of a single piece of plastic.
The steering wheel has no fewer than 23 buttons, which means it’s all too easy to press the wrong one at the wrong time. It’s also too low for the driver if other buttons are randomly scattered around. The Banshee looked funny on the outside, but this dashboard was far from working.
9 Maserati Boomerang Concept
How many drivers spend their time looking at the steering wheel? Not many, but Maserati kind of thought it was a great idea to put the entire dashboard in the center of the wheel.
It’s a stupid thing to put everything in one tight spot, and the ignition and gauges nearby won’t help either. The car itself was a daring idea with a 4.7-liter, 315-horsepower V8, but the steering wheel dashboard is undoubtedly a main reason the Boomerang returned to the drawing board.
8th Citroen GSA Pallas
Photo credit: topoftheworld.com
You might be forgiven for looking at the dashboard of the Citroen GSA Pallas and thinking it was the setup for an arcade racing game. Nearby is the steering wheel with the handle for the parking brake, which makes it difficult to turn.
The rotating drums for the speedometers and tachometers are very strange, as are the “pods” for turn signals, windshield wipers, lights, and other normally simple buttons. The strange “car outline” screen makes it difficult to tell what’s happening, and the stereo is oddly placed too. It’s just too unusual to work, but it still suits Citroen.
7th Aerospace Lancia Beta Trevi
Via: The hogring.net
Do you remember the old Connect Four board game? This appears to have been used by someone to form the dashboard for the Aerospace Lancia Beta Trevi. There are 29 holes in total, and the mix of colors makes it almost impossible to figure out which are which.
There is also how several controls are located in an angular direction from the driver, including a side-switchable gearshift shirt. The weird curve to the steering wheel is the topper for a dashboard that pops the eye in the wrong way.
6th McLaren F1
Via: Autocar.com
It’s not that the McLaren F1 dashboard is that bad. But considering that this car costs a million dollars, you’d think they’d jump in for something a little more eye-catching. The confusing part is that almost all of the buttons and consoles are right on the driver’s side so they have to look down to know what to hit.
The bike itself is monotonous and boring, the cladding is boring gray. A little work could have made it exciting, but the F1 doesn’t seem like a high-performance machine from the inside.
5 Fiat Multipla
Via RAC.co.uk
The Fiat Multipla is known as one of the ugliest cars to ever hit the road. With all of the focus on the bug-like exterior, it’s easy to miss that the inside is just as confusing.
The vents look like the robot doll from a second rate TV show and the weird angles in bizarre ones. Having the gear stick this high is also a bad move as it is harder to make quick adjustments. It strangely makes sense that a Fiat’s dashboard should be as stupid as it looks from the outside.
4th Toyota Ractis
via STC Japan
Putting a gearshift on the dash is one of those weird ideas that some designers keep trying to get working. This is rarely the case as it can sometimes be dangerous to get this far to change gears.
This isn’t the only problem with the Toyota Racitis as the wheel hangs a little lower on the right side than it should, while the touchscreen above the gear shift along with the strange design is just plain unattractive. With a better seat, this could be a handier car, but it’s clear why the Racitis never made it to the US
3 1982 Lancia Orca
Via: pinterest.com
It looks like someone took a kids’ toy computer from the early 80s and put it on the steering wheel. It’s hard to tell what to do, which makes it difficult on the road and requires quick adjustments.
There are also the weird screens showing high tech scanners (for the 80s) and the like that look ridiculous today. A few switches on the steering wheel aren’t a problem, but that’s way too many and the Orca was a journey back in time on the road.
2 Tesla Cybertruck
Sometimes “less is more” can work, but the Tesla Cybertruck goes too far. Given that this is the most advanced vehicle built by a multibillionaire, it would be nicer to have an interior that doesn’t look like an Ikea kitchen setup.
A small screen that controls everything may sound great to tech geeks, but not the serious truckers who aspire to it, and it looks absolutely monotonous. The cybertruck is not a vision of the future, but rather shows a bad mood.
1 Aston Martin Lagonda
via Bring a Trailer
There are some weird versions of the Lagonda interior, including the dashboard being way too far from the driver. But that’s worse. Connecting the steering wheel to a table-like counter is an odd move to keep the driver from turning properly.
It also looks boxy and flat, more like a kitchen table than a car design with the weird touch panel. It’s this wheel mount that sets it apart and one reason the Landgoa was a notorious flop.
About the author
Michael Weyer
(157 articles published)
Longtime online writer on sports, celebrities, entertainment, etc. Enjoy and learn more about cars in movies and various TV shows (reality and fiction) even as I share this with others.
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