1 O’clock – It’s Time to Rock

What lurks in the shadows?

What lurks in the shadows?

Yeah, I know. It’s 8:05, not 1. But after you see the next few pix, you might agree that 1 o’clock rocks pretty hard too.

Version Stirling gauge set

Version Stirling gauge set

These are Sharka’s latest gauges – Version Stirling. They’re the production version of the gauges I made for Cooper a few posts down. I really didn’t intend to keep them in Sharka. I just wanted to see them under the KG Works cluster. But… well… they rock! I love them.

It's very 50s in here.

It's very 50s in here.

The gauges are modeled after the ones in the car Sir Stirling Moss raced in 1955. That car featured two VDO multi-arc small gauges surrounding a Veglia tach with zero at 1 o’clock. I’ve loved that design for years, just never had a chance or reason to see what they might look like in a Miata version.

Until now!

1 o'clock - the new hotness.

1 o'clock - the new hotness.

Cars came with 1 o’clock gauges way back when. Yeah, “way back when.” They were quite popular in the 1920-1950 period, and were then replaced by 7 o’clock gauges. But in the 50s, gauges like this were the norm.

I’ve never sat in a car with 1 o’clock gauges. Obviously, never driven one either. And then I put these in Sharka about two weeks ago. And man… I love it. It’s SO different from the 5 o’clock gauges in Bucky (my NB) and the 10 o’clock gauges Sharka used to wear. But it’s different in a good way.

Since installing these gauges, I’ve taken Sharka to work every day. Every day. I never do that. Sharka is more like a once-a-week car. In nice weather. I usually daily drive my NB. But there’s something about these gauges. I wanna sit in front of them. I find myself in the upper end of the tach more often. And 80 mph is at 6 o’clock.

There’s something pretty awesome about seeing the speedometer point straight down on the freeway.

and, of course, amber lighting.

and, of course, amber lighting.

I do love my amber lighting. I know it’s not for everyone, but most of my gauge customers choose it. It’s a nice change from the OEM green. Though, I’ll admit, this design looks really awesome with green lighting as well.

Anyways. There it is. Sharka’s latest gauges. I hope ya like them. And if anyone out there wants a set, you know what to do.

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  • Shmulik says:

    Loved them !!

  • GT-Alex says:

    That’s a nice zero position. But I can’t help but dream about a way to reverse the rotation of one gauge, as in latest Astons.

    • revlimiter says:

      There’s a guy on CR.net (this link should work) who’s been trying to do that. He has a reversed tach working. The only problem is that the scale gets really smooshed in the 2000-5000 range. 0-2000 is about the same as stock and 5000-7000 is spaced apart a bit more. 0 and 8000 are in the same spots as stock.

      I’ve made him a couple of reversed tach faces and a spare tach he could modify. Haven’t heard on a final version yet.

  • Ian says:

    Yep – I have been thinking about how to reverse. I am making gauges now and have a spare cluster. Maybe I should have a play with that when I am finished.

    • revlimiter says:

      Super simple. You just reverse the tach signal inputs. It will suddenly be reversed. It won’t work perfectly, but that’s how you start. Some work needs to be done with resistors and so forth to make it perfect.

  • Chris says:

    I love the new gauges Adam! The KGW cluster has a lot to do with how they look in the car as well (in my opinion at least). I placed my Version Revolver gauges behind my stock cluster just for shits and giggles and it looked awkward. I’m glad I picked up a KGW cluster to go with them. No matter which set of gauges I get, I know they will look fantastic, especially behind the KGW cluster. It’s almost like you tailor your gauges to work with that cluster.

    • revlimiter says:

      I had the Revolver gauges in a stock cluster for nearly a year before I finally acquired my KGW piece. I thought they looked rather good.

      It’s not that my gauges are designed with the KG cluster in mind, it’s the fact that KG Works did such an amazing job with that cluster. Even the stock gauges look great with that beauty around them.

  • Bill says:

    Gorgeous, as always!

  • jimmyjet says:

    These are a plus for tall Miata owners. I met the guy who owns FM’s “Yellow Submarine” and he flipped the gauges upside down so he could read them at speed. He was so tall that the top the steering wheel blocked his view of the gauges.

  • Yäz says:

    Hi Adam !

    Do you have some pics of 1 o’clock models in km/h please ?

    Thanks

    Romain

  • oscar says:

    how can i get a set off these

  • oscar says:

    do you have this whole set up with the warbird style ?

  • Leave a Reply to revlimiter