By the latter part of the 1960s, though, automakers, for the first time, were encountering significant Federal legislation in the design of car interiors. Driver and passenger safety suddenly became paramount, with less emphasis placed on looks and styling. Out went sharp metal edges, small hard *****, bladed-door handles, rigid steering columns, hard metal dashboards, and other hazardous designs, in favor of padded surfaces and materials/designs safer in a crash.

 

Here are some favorites:
Lexus ES300
Acura RL
VW Passat, with it's nighttime disco lighting
Knight Industries 2000

 

^ You can still see the obvious cost cutting in Detroit products from the early 60's to the late 60's, lets look at Cadillac since you posted some pics of 1970's Cadillac interiors.

1960 Cadillac Fleetwood interior


1969 Cadillac Eldorado interior


In the 1969 car, the wood trim is fake plastic wood, and most of the "chrome" brightwork on the dash is that plastic chrome that wears off with use, unlike the real deal chrome and polished metal on that 1960 dash board. I love the crushed velour and pillow topped seats in the 1970's/80's Detroit cars, but the quality of the plastic bits and fake wood trim left a lot to be desired compared to a 1970's Benz or what American cars had in them 10-15 years earlier. The 70's cars were over the top gaudy, which is fun, but part of that gaudy/tacky fun factor is they aren't very well built but so ostentatious at the same time. I mean come on Ford, you put the same steering wheel in a farmer's truck as your top of the line Lincoln.

 

What is with the Ford bashing? The Lexus LS430 and the Toyota Tundra work truck regular cab used the same steering wheel design.

 

My late father (who strongly disliked Fords, BTW, and believed in 60s-vintage Chrysler drivetrains) was so attracted to the 1965 Thunderbird's interior that he broke down and bought a used one in 1968 (I drove it a number of times).....light blue, just like this one. He thought it was one of the most stunning interiors he had ever seen. The steering column swung away to the right, you as you got in and out, for clearance. The speedometer was a horizontally-expanding red-orange bar that filled up the window from left to right as you went faster.

 

Not that I've ever seen. I'd like to see a picture of that.

 

Actually (at least from what I can tell) they did use the same basic pattern......if you discount the wood parts on the LS rim and a couple of extra buttons between the spokes.

LS430:



Tundra:

 

That wheel on the Tundra is actually the same rim design as what was used on the 2LS, not the LS430. Also used on the LX, Land Cruiser, 4 Runner, GX.

Center pad is different.

 

man those old interiors are hideous. but some were comfy at least

not sure what my favorite car interiors are, but to me, almost none of them age well... some really old bentleys and rolls royces are impressive, probably because they had almost no plastic to disintegrate and fade over time.

1960 rolls:


while not a big fan of the 'bolted on' screen... this a8 is pretty awesome overall...

 

Rolls has always made great interiors.

 

I actually am not a fan of the current Rolls interiors. I'm sure the quality is there, but the whole feel of them tends to be more boatish or perhaps truckish vs carish, the instrument clusters are very small. Lots of flat areas. Not a fan:

 

Rolls always made nice furniture. I never was that impressed by the cars themselves from the mid-late 60's until the Germans finally gave us the Phantom about 10-15 years ago. The 80's and 90's were Bentley's decade IMO. I know that both Rolls and Bentleys were the same car from that era, but the Bentleys looked better and had awesome turbocharged "6 and 3/4 Litre" V8 engines under the hood.

 

While I myself am a big fan of automotive wood and wood-tone paneling..........that just might be a bit much and overdoing it. I've seen less wood than that in furniture stores LOL.

 

My top 4:

LFA
S class coupe
LC500
KITT

 

Interiors change, and so does people's perception. What I though were once awe inspiring interiors just 10 years ago today seem very dated and boring. Interiors that are 20+ years old are about as appealing as a bunch of old furniture.