Even though the S650 is not out yet, the assembled parts and software had already been ordered and probably delivered to the plant. The assembly line may be already geared up for production. It takes at least 2 years to make any changes to production unless it has to do with safety.
All that high-tech computer and software work they have in there likely has the capability to support updates already. All they'd need to do is release it with software capable of taking the updates. Or give dealerships the tools to upgrade it with their OBD II Toughbook devices.
Exactly what the title says: what if we got more than a Foxbody callback? With a digital gauge cluster, there's so many opportunities for new gauge clusters. We could get updates, like you would your phone or computer, with new gauges. (Or they're made paid DLC like a video game cosmetic) I see nobody talking about this, but I am super excited for the possibilities here. So excited, that I decided to take my rusty Photoshop skills from the closet (which I haven't used since high school, please go easy on me) and get to making some of my own. Here's some of what I've made so far, with some explanations below each type:
2 examples of the 1967-1968 Mustang Gauge Cluster. Probably my favorite, and I think it would work really well. I could see Ford not using a chrome look in the gauges, so I figured making the flatter, more boring one would give me (and you) a better idea of what they'd likely do.
These 2 are based of the late 1965-1966 Mustang. Same reason as mentioned above for why there are two. I actually don't mind the modern 66 one as much as I do the 67.
These 3 are based on the 1965 Falcon. It was used in the 1964.5 and early 1965 Mustangs too, likely because of part shortages and the Mustang being a Falcon at heart. Back then, you could get an option for a Rally Pac, which gave you the tach and clock. I figured it would be nice to add on, and I'd hope it's present if Ford were to make these.
This is the 1969 Mustang cluster. I think this one looks really slick, and I could totally see myself using one of these.
Here's a fun one. This is a 1940 Ford F1 truck cluster. Nothing really special about this one, it didn't take much time to make at all, and it shows it. Definitely unique though, and I doubt Ford would use this.
These are my last two, being a 2003 SVT Cobra and S197 based clusters respectively. And I'm sure you can also tell that I just shopped the digits onto the existing Foxbody cluster. These also didn't take very long, and it once again shows. Especially on the white accessory gauges on the SVT one. I did also experiment with possible MyColor options on the S197 one, as I'm sure you can tell.
Finally, this is a little idea I had while finishing up some of these clusters today: they mentioned putting auxiliary gauges on the 2nd screen, but what if those could be themed around a classic cluster too? So here is a super crappy Photoshop job of the Foxbody cluster with the Foxbody center control stack gizmos. (specifically in the LX trim, iirc) An oldschool-looking radio, clock, and other miscellaneous info on the 2nd screen to match the selected gauge cluster would be super cool! I may work on these more if you guys would like to see that.
That's all I'm going to share for now. Constructive criticism always welcome. If you want me to make one based on your favorite car, let me know. I do plan to make more (and clean up some of the others I haven't shared here) down the road.
Edit: I see the forum doesn't like to load all the photos, and not always in the right order either. So here is an imgur link with all of them and which car model they are derived from:
Absolutely fantastic! I would rock every single one of these!Guess who? I'm back, with more clusters in tow. Just like prior posts, I'm not a god at Photoshop, but I'm still open to constructive criticism! I've updated the Imgur album, so if the images don't load, go there and you can find each one with its label right under it. Hopefully you guys enjoy the new ones!
1963 Ford Thunderbird. Never did decide what to turn those red lights into, what would you guys use them for?
1973 Ford Mustang. The original dash has a climate vent immediately to the left of the gauges, so I added the outline and repurposed it for some of the extra stats. Gonna be honest, I'm not too keen on it as it is, but I'm not sure how to make it better without deleting it.
1974 Mustang II. The controversial Mustang II gets a reference on the rear glass of the new Mustang. Why not stick a reference into the gauge cluster? I actually made this a long time ago, but didn't like it. I've tweaked it a little bit and decided it's good enough to post.
1977 Ford Dentside (F100, 150, 250, 350, Bronco). I think this one came out really good. My favorite generation of Ford pickup, I couldn't help but add this.
Here's a cool one! 1991 Ford Probe LX cluster. A fully-digital gauge cluster in the early 90s, transplanted to a screen for the modern-day Mustang. Really neat, if you ask me.
2005 Ford GT. The original verison has a boost gauge, but I nixed it, so everything would fit easier while still being legible. I might be able to rework those switches so they look better, but I like the idea of having them on screen, indicating certain technologies being toggled on or off.
Last one, per @Mike Pfeifer 's request: a Star Trek LCARS-themed cluster! This was pretty fun to make. I would understand this one not making it officially, due to licensing. Still cool to see, though!
Any other requests or ideas are welcome! I am currently working on a 1965 Thunderbird and 1990 Escort GT cluster. It'll probably be my last sleuth of clusters, for I'll be extra busy all summer. (busy with driving my new Mustang, of course) Thanks for all feedback and support you guys have already shown!
Guess who? I'm back, with more clusters in tow. Just like prior posts, I'm not a god at Photoshop, but I'm still open to constructive criticism! I've updated the Imgur album, so if the images don't load, go there and you can find each one with its label right under it. Hopefully you guys enjoy the new ones!
1963 Ford Thunderbird. Never did decide what to turn those red lights into, what would you guys use them for?
1973 Ford Mustang. The original dash has a climate vent immediately to the left of the gauges, so I added the outline and repurposed it for some of the extra stats. Gonna be honest, I'm not too keen on it as it is, but I'm not sure how to make it better without deleting it.
1974 Mustang II. The controversial Mustang II gets a reference on the rear glass of the new Mustang. Why not stick a reference into the gauge cluster? I actually made this a long time ago, but didn't like it. I've tweaked it a little bit and decided it's good enough to post.
1977 Ford Dentside (F100, 150, 250, 350, Bronco). I think this one came out really good. My favorite generation of Ford pickup, I couldn't help but add this.
Here's a cool one! 1991 Ford Probe LX cluster. A fully-digital gauge cluster in the early 90s, transplanted to a screen for the modern-day Mustang. Really neat, if you ask me.
2005 Ford GT. The original verison has a boost gauge, but I nixed it, so everything would fit easier while still being legible. I might be able to rework those switches so they look better, but I like the idea of having them on screen, indicating certain technologies being toggled on or off.
Last one, per @Mike Pfeifer 's request: a Star Trek LCARS-themed cluster! This was pretty fun to make. I would understand this one not making it officially, due to licensing. Still cool to see, though!
Any other requests or ideas are welcome! I am currently working on a 1965 Thunderbird and 1990 Escort GT cluster. It'll probably be my last sleuth of clusters, for I'll be extra busy all summer. (busy with driving my new Mustang, of course) Thanks for all feedback and support you guys have already shown!
Challenging you to faithfully recreate the Pagani Huayra’s cluster without crying (impossible)Guess who? I'm back, with more clusters in tow. Just like prior posts, I'm not a god at Photoshop, but I'm still open to constructive criticism! I've updated the Imgur album, so if the images don't load, go there and you can find each one with its label right under it. Hopefully you guys enjoy the new ones!
1963 Ford Thunderbird. Never did decide what to turn those red lights into, what would you guys use them for?
1973 Ford Mustang. The original dash has a climate vent immediately to the left of the gauges, so I added the outline and repurposed it for some of the extra stats. Gonna be honest, I'm not too keen on it as it is, but I'm not sure how to make it better without deleting it.
1974 Mustang II. The controversial Mustang II gets a reference on the rear glass of the new Mustang. Why not stick a reference into the gauge cluster? I actually made this a long time ago, but didn't like it. I've tweaked it a little bit and decided it's good enough to post.
1977 Ford Dentside (F100, 150, 250, 350, Bronco). I think this one came out really good. My favorite generation of Ford pickup, I couldn't help but add this.
Here's a cool one! 1991 Ford Probe LX cluster. A fully-digital gauge cluster in the early 90s, transplanted to a screen for the modern-day Mustang. Really neat, if you ask me.
2005 Ford GT. The original verison has a boost gauge, but I nixed it, so everything would fit easier while still being legible. I might be able to rework those switches so they look better, but I like the idea of having them on screen, indicating certain technologies being toggled on or off.
Last one, per @Mike Pfeifer 's request: a Star Trek LCARS-themed cluster! This was pretty fun to make. I would understand this one not making it officially, due to licensing. Still cool to see, though!
Any other requests or ideas are welcome! I am currently working on a 1965 Thunderbird and 1990 Escort GT cluster. It'll probably be my last sleuth of clusters, for I'll be extra busy all summer. (busy with driving my new Mustang, of course) Thanks for all feedback and support you guys have already shown!
The bottom one is in my Mustang.Fantastic work!
One of the (many) things I loved about the S197 is that it used the same font on the dash as the '68
What does that have to do with what he asked?
His question was "Why wait for the refresh?" It's about revenue streams. Why would Ford give away a free electronic dash upgrade when they can charge for it in the next cycle like Microsoft does with Office 365.
Guess who? I'm back, with more clusters in tow. Just like prior posts, I'm not a god at Photoshop, but I'm still open to constructive criticism! I've updated the Imgur album, so if the images don't load, go there and you can find each one with its label right under it. Hopefully you guys enjoy the new ones!
1963 Ford Thunderbird. Never did decide what to turn those red lights into, what would you guys use them for?
1973 Ford Mustang. The original dash has a climate vent immediately to the left of the gauges, so I added the outline and repurposed it for some of the extra stats. Gonna be honest, I'm not too keen on it as it is, but I'm not sure how to make it better without deleting it.
1974 Mustang II. The controversial Mustang II gets a reference on the rear glass of the new Mustang. Why not stick a reference into the gauge cluster? I actually made this a long time ago, but didn't like it. I've tweaked it a little bit and decided it's good enough to post.
1977 Ford Dentside (F100, 150, 250, 350, Bronco). I think this one came out really good. My favorite generation of Ford pickup, I couldn't help but add this.
Here's a cool one! 1991 Ford Probe LX cluster. A fully-digital gauge cluster in the early 90s, transplanted to a screen for the modern-day Mustang. Really neat, if you ask me.
2005 Ford GT. The original verison has a boost gauge, but I nixed it, so everything would fit easier while still being legible. I might be able to rework those switches so they look better, but I like the idea of having them on screen, indicating certain technologies being toggled on or off.
Last one, per @Mike Pfeifer 's request: a Star Trek LCARS-themed cluster! This was pretty fun to make. I would understand this one not making it officially, due to licensing. Still cool to see, though!
Any other requests or ideas are welcome! I am currently working on a 1965 Thunderbird and 1990 Escort GT cluster. It'll probably be my last sleuth of clusters, for I'll be extra busy all summer. (busy with driving my new Mustang, of course) Thanks for all feedback and support you guys have already shown!
Great work! Hope you and your buddies can figure out a way to implement these as I will definitely like to use some.Oh boy, here we go again..
I am back for my final grab-bag of unrealistic gauge-cluster-ideas for the 2024 Mustang's digital gauge screen. (for the time being, that is) I've made a whole 30 of these since my last sleuth, 48 in total, 43 unique ones. Quite the time spent on this project, huh.
Just as before, I'm no Photoshop expert, and I hope you weren't expecting a Photoshop expert. It's definitely improved, but I'm not winning any awards. The Imgur album has been updated, so if the formatting goes all wacky, you can view all of the clusters there. Now enough of my babbling, let's get this over with.
And as a sidenote, I ran out of unique Ford's, so I went sacrilegious and started to make clusters based on other car brands' cars. Surely you guys don't mind too much, right?
2003 Lexus IS300. A very unique design, if you ask me. A very fun car, too. An IS300 wagon with a 2JZ and a 5-speed would be one hell of a drift car.
1986 Chevy Squarebody. This has gotta be up there as one of the most recognizable set of gauges ever. GM used it in so many different vehicles, and I just had to do it.
1991 Mazda RX7. I like to think that if Ford puts motor sounds in an electric Mustang, (a sports car, not a family-carrier) that they make an option for a rotary sound. Wonder if we'll see it someday.
1962 Ford F100. I know, a very basic one compared to the others. But if you remember the factory originals, there's a calm one that keeps everything center-focused. I wouldn't say I'm too horribly far off. Though if it were to be calm, some of those accessory gauges should probably get the axe.
1986 BMW M3 E30. One of my all-time dream cars since I was a kid. I'm hardly into imports, especially European imports, but man do I love the E30! I'm sure some of you could agree.
1993 Toyota Supra. Figured I'll keep the ball rolling with imports, and go with a Fast and Furious icon. If only it weren't such a big icon that it's impossible to buy these things. I don't think I've seen one of these on the road since before COVID-19.
1966 VW Beetle. I had a lot of fun with this one, with giving the panels that "vent" look, and the light coming off the gauges over those features... This one is a cool one, for sure.
1993 Buick LeSabre. This one is very special to me, as it was the car my great grandparents drove, and what I later inherited as my first car. I like to think we may see customizable turn signal noises too, in which case I want this to be the first. These old Buicks have a distinct, mechanical blinker click. Those who've owned them can vouch for me.
1994 Dodge RAM. Another very special one for me. My dad drove one of these when I was a kid. Bought it brand new in '93, and I have some very fond memories with him in that old thing.
1999 Ford F150 SVT Lightning. A fun, sometimes forgotten toy from the last 2 decades. I'd love to drive one some day.
1982 DMC DeLorean. I just had to, okay? This one could use a bit of polishing, but that's what happens when you make 30 of these in the span of a month, right?
2013 Tesla Model S. This is the original Model S screen, back when a big screen was unheard of. I feel some of the proportions are off, but it's no big deal. We'll all forget this existed within the next week.
1953 Mercedes 300SL. Another one of my all-time dream cars. I'd love to get a repro 300SL Roadster Convertible, LS swapped, with AC and other modern amenities. Imagine selling houses in one of those things! Also as far as I can tell, the center piece is only available in the roadster, and not the gullwing. Any of you guys know for sure?
These two are based on Holley's EFI kits. They've got tons more, but I don't have the time to make more. I also get the feeling many of you haven't seen these before.
1970 Dodge Challenger. Technically, this was used in most E-body Mopars. This is nearly identical to the 1969 Dodge Charger too, just without the full-sized tach.
1971 Plymouth Barracuda. Another E-body Mopar common-place piece. This is really just the upgraded Rallye cluster, which was available on most E-body Mopars, just like the cluster above.
1987 Ford Escort GT. An unusual pick, I know. Ugly baby-puke yellow too, I know. But somewhat unique, yeah? Wonder if Ford will ever make performance sedans/hatchbacks again.
1978 Pontiac Trans-Am. I'd love to try one of these puppies out one day. My neighbor has one that caught fire. Maybe I should offer to help restore it in exchange for some weekend cruises.
1987 Chevrolet Corvette. This one was a lot of fun to make. 80s digital electronics fascinate me immensely, so making this (and another car further on this list) was a lot of fun for me. If you look closely, I darkened a lot of possible options, as if they're turned off, but their cutouts remain. Trying to keep true to the style, y'know?
2021 Chevrolet Corvette. Why just stop at one Corvette? I freaking love these things, and this new one is up there on the coolest-cars-of-the-2020s-list.
1965 Chevrolet Nova. A much simpler one, compared to some of the others. Still cool regardless. I hope you guys agree. It was at this point I realized I was running out of unique layouts and styles.
1965 Ford Thunderbird. This one is really cool. Proportions are off, sure. But that's just cool. A tach could be added to this, but I don't think there ever was a factory tach available for this car.
1986 Porsche 930 Turbo. Back to exotic imports, and you can start to see how same-y these are getting. It's gotten to the point where some of these simpler ones only take 20 minutes or so, because I just load up the working file of an older one, shift a few things around, and boom. Done.
Pagani Huyara, as requested by @OppoLock . My computer decided to throw a fit while working on this one, so I had to finish it on my old computer with a copy of 2009 Photoshop. I would've loved to polish this one up more, but it works. A little noisy for my liking, but I feel I did a decent job twisting around a circle to fit all the different shapes of this one.
1987 Subaru XT. This one was not at all planned, but I was browsing Facebook Marketplace and saw this, and just had to do it. Had a little bit of fun with this one. I could see MyColor being very popular with this one, so it's not such a hideous color.
This one is based off the SNES game F-Zero. I also wanted to do Pole Position and Gran Turismo 1, but decided I'll live with just one. I had to download a custom text font for this one, but I think it came out pretty good!
2003 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra. I did this one way back, but it looked horrendous, so I redid it entirely. Looks much, much better now if you ask me. I'd personally love to see a MyColor option exclusive to this, where some of the accents get a Mystichrome look to it. Just an idea.
And the final one: 1965 Ford Fairlane. the bottom one has a tach I've added on, of course. I made this way way back, and also really hated it. I've cleaned it up a whole lot, and now I'm happy to share it.
There you go. 30 more of these things. This is the last sleuth I'll be making for the immediate future. I am leaving for Dallas, Texas tonight, and will be very occupied out there until September. In the meantime, you are welcome to request more of these, and I'll try to fulfill when I return.
And with that, I have an announcement to make. I've been teaching myself Unreal Engine. (the computer system the Mustang's visuals runs on) When I return from Texas, have some spare time, and have my 2024 Mustang in-hand, myself and some of my computer buddies are gonna try and crack the Mustang's system. Fingers crossed it's not horribly hard, nor do I brick my car.
If I am successful, I will begin working on functioning alternative gauge clusters! I will do my best to make a tutorial on how to do it, and then I will distribute the files and tutorial for the community to use. (though likely through a Patreon) I can't give a time window, because I have no idea how hard Ford will have it locked down. But I'll post updates! Definitely stay tuned!
Thank you all for being a fun and informative group of people! I really enjoy talking with you guys, and look forward to continuing to do so!
