We were out digging through an old shop the other day when I caught a glimpse of this piece peeking out from a pile of dusty parts:
I don’t know about you, but when I see that distinctive engine turned finish, I can’t move fast enough. I figured the provenance of this panel would be easy enough to determine, but it did take some time because I was looking in the wrong decade. It turns out this part is slightly newer than I first thought; do you recognize it?
I was looking in the thirties, but this is an under-dash control panel for a 1946-1948 DeSoto. Here is what it looks like installed underneath that gorgeous dash:
The two upper openings are for the starter button and cigar lighter. The lower openings, left to right, are for ignition, map light, headlight, heater temp, heat defroster, and heater fan switches. DeSoto called the knobs for these switches “crystal plastic.”
Here is an up-close look at the heater fan switch knob:
This was not the first time DeSoto had utilized engine turning to create beautiful finishes. In 1937, this brochure described the instrument panel as having “a soft, engine turned finish like the breech of a gun, set off by walnut graining.”
The stunning engine turned, or jeweled, finish had long been in use by the time this brochure was published. Here it is seen famously gracing the nose of The Spirit of St. Louis in this photo of Charles Lindbergh:
Prior to its use on airplanes, engine turned finishes were also used on items like jewelry, watches, handheld mirrors, and cigarette cases. That’s all well and good, but those things cannot compare to the gleam of a dash with an engine turned finish:
