DUNN DASH PANELS
Accessory dash panels for the Model A Ford were manufactured
by the Dunn Manufacturing Company in Clarinda, Iowa. These made for easy
installation of accessory gauges in the instrument cluster.
The information and pictures on the Dunn panels are provided by Mr. Jim Lindberg of
Minnesota, a Model A owner and a collector of Model A accessories. The panels shown
are from his collection of Model A Ford accessories.
The panels were available in four different ways:
1. Panel only without extra gauges
2. Panel with auto clock and oil gauge
3. Panel with temperature gauge and oil pressure gauge
4. Panel with auto clock, temperature gauge and oil pressure gauge.
Mr. Lindberg states that he has never seen a clock for one of these panels, but
advertisements for the panels states that the clock was made by Westclox.
One model of the Dunn instrument panel was the "Aristocrat Instrument Board, which was a highly polished aluminum panel with an etched, circular design. Below is a photograph of an Aristocrat Instrument Board made for an oval speedometer from Mr. Lindberg's collection. The panel contains original oil pressure and water temperature gauges manufactured by the US Gauge Company in New York. The gauges are printed with "DUN MANUFACTURING CO. CLARION, IOWA. USA.
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Below is an original advertisement for the Aristocrat Instrument Board from page 63 of "Those Wonderful Unauthorized Accessories for Model A Ford" by Murray Fahnestock.
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Below are two pictures of an original Dunn box for an Aristocrat Instrument Panel which came with a temperature and oil gauge, and sold for $10.00 in 1930-31. The inside cover of the box has an ad for the panel and shows an Aristocrat panel installed in a Model A cabriolet.
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Dunn also made another stamped steel panel for both the oval and round speedometer.
These were chrome plates with the inner surface trimmed for effect. The following
photographs show both panels for oval and round speedometers. The panel for the
round speedometer has matching Rex-A-Co oil pressure and water temperature gauges.
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Below is an original advertisement for the Dunn Deluxe Instrument Board from page 62 of
"Those Wonderful Unauthorized Accessories for Model A Ford" by Murray
Fahnestock. The advertisement states that the panel is trimmed with Circassian
Walnut.
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A reproduction of the Dunn panel is available. This is made of stamped steel that has been
polished. Mr. Lindberg states that the reproduction panel fits fairly well, but not
as tightly around the gauge openings as the original Dunn panels. The following
picture shows an example of the reproduction panel owned by Mr. Lindberg, into which he
installed a set of reproduction Rex a Co gauges.
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