Name That Car Clock: Brightly Colored Clock/Tach Combo

Murilee Martin
by Murilee Martin

Yesterday’s Name That Car Clock challenger came from a ’74 Fiat 124 Spider. That clock was very dignified, in a cool Italian sort of way. Today’s NTCC contestant is much more festive, though it’s not from a Ford Festiva. Decide what year/make/model vehicle produced this clock, then make the jump to see if you were right.

1987 Saab 900 Turbo

If you saw the “VDO” molded into the white plastic, you probably figured out that this unit was of European origin. The “ECON” label for the low end of the tachometer suggests a sensible Swedish outlook, and the bright colors suggests Saab lunacy. What did you think it was?



Murilee Martin
Murilee Martin

Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.

More by Murilee Martin

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 22 comments
  • Yes_but_maybe Yes_but_maybe on Mar 04, 2012

    Great use of Helvetica. Is there any other automaker who used Helvetica in its gauges?

  • Ootpek Ootpek on Mar 05, 2012

    I had an 86 900 turbo 3 door. Loved that car! And thanks Pete for reminding me of the manual SUNROOF!!! I loved scaring my passengers by slamming that thing shut quick. Hahahahhaa.

  • MaintenanceCosts If you want a car in this category, you want interior space, comfort, predictability, and low running costs.That probably favors the RAV4 Hybrid, with second place going to the CR-V hybrid. The CR-V is a nicer-looking and nicer-feeling product, but it just has not proved quite as low-drama as the Toyota.The RAV4 Prime is a compelling car but it's extremely expensive and still hard to get, and the regular hybrids are a better value.There's no reason to choose the non-hybrid of either one. You get higher running costs and less refinement for no benefit.
  • Aaron Id lean towards the rav4. The crv1.5 turbo has had issues. The rav 4 has both port and direct injection, no cvt. Also the Toyota hybrid systems have been super stout
  • Jeff My wife owned a 2013 AWD CRV since new it has been trouble free but I am not a fan of turbos so I would lean toward the Rav 4. If I were getting a hybrid it definitely would be a Rav 4 with Toyota's hybrid system being the best. Honestly you could not go wrong with either a CRV or a Rav 4. My third choice would be a Mazda.
  • 3-On-The-Tree We like our 2021 Rav4 non hybrid.
  • Vatchy FSD never has been so what is with the hype about robo-taxis? You would need the first in order for the second to work.
Next