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I have noticed that in the mid 70s even before body styles changed that they went down. If I am not mistaken ( and from what I can tell in the brochure) that starting as early as 1974, the Cadillac went down to a 100 mph speedometer on the dash redesigned 74 Cadillac (and I think Buick did as well), which was still based on the 1971 chassis (yet the Chevy kept the 120 mph unit in 1974 (strange huh?). Lincoln went down to a 100 mph speedometer in 1977 (which was identical to the dash on the 76) and down even more in 1978 to an 85 mph unit with the dash panel redesign.
Ford did the same with their big cars.... at least in 75, still had the 120 speedometer, then by 77 had an 85 speedometer. I guess all cars had different years they changed. I never knew why though.
Wow, thats rare... the digital dash optioned Camaros were very rare!
For memories... here is a pic of an '85 Camaro with the RARE digital dash option!
want rare? in 86 and 87 Grand Nationals were available digital speedos too. Everyone had them worked on by a guy in new england who used to lift the 85 mph top speed on those.. They also used to flash *85* once you reached that speed.
I think in most cars a 120-140 mph speedo is silly. My '02 Chevy truck has a 100 mph speedo but the IP redesign for '03 gave it a 120 mph one. Top speed is governed at 96. The 120 was put in for no reason and it's harder to read to boot.
Federal law mandated the 85 MPH speedometer starting 1977 with the obvious exceptions of police package, etc. vehicles. And even they had 55 MPH highlighted on the number scale.
I want to say 1992 was the last year of the 85 MPH display.......someone correct me if I am wrong
My 1994 Mercury Grand Marquis has an 85 MPH speedometer as well. The 55 MPH mark is in orange.
I don't know why Ford persisted with the 85 mph display for so long .
My toyota corolla speedometer went to something like 100+ and only someone with a deathwish would break 85 in good conditions in that car and it's bi-cycle tires. The interstate near here is 70mph with people commonly going up around 80mph and on curves or with wind etc. it's not a relaxing ride.
I'm not dogging on the car, it was a great little comuter car that got 30city/40highway but with those mini-tires driving it in snow, water, or higher speeds got surprisingly tricky for a fwd car.
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