@Stan Galat posted:I think of engine-turned parts as being "of a time". That time is not now, nor was it during the time speedsters were in their heyday...
Agreed.
@Stan Galat posted:...That time was about 20 minutes in about 1975, when Pontiac put an engine-turned gauge surrounds in the Trans-Am.
Not so agreed.
I think Pontiac was evoking a much earlier time, when 'sporty' cars wore engine turning.
Chebby had done the same thing a dozen years earlier on the 'SS' model Impalas:
They were both references to your grandfather's Oldsmobile, or more likely the Doozeyberg that your grandfather's boss drove back in the '20s or '30s:
Anyways, I agree that the motif is a little out of joint in a 356.
Here's the dash of the '62 Impala SS:
And here's the dash of a '64 356 (presumably the model for Lane's car):
Two way different thangs, right?
For me, the 356 has always been about smooth, understated shape that didn't need any decoration to make its point. The whole 'less is more' thing.
But then, that's just me.