As you likely saw, Bugatti just unveiled their new Toyota GR Yaris-killer, the 1,775 horsepower, V16 Tourbillon, and it’s an impressive tour-de-farts of advanced tech and stunning Bugatti-heritage designs. I’m sure you’ll be seeing these in every TJ Maxx parking lot from Lansing to Arlen, so you’ll be familiar with these new Bugattis soon enough. As you have likely inferred by the name (tourbillon is a horological term for the mechanism in a watch made from compressed fairy scat that gives a watch its monetary value) the new Bugatti has a sort of fancy watch theme, which is perhaps most noticeable in its novel, watch-like instrument cluster. That instrument cluster was also lauded as being revolutionary, with some outlets even proclaiming it a reinvention of “the (steering) wheel.” Here’s the only problem with that idea, though: Maserati did it half a century ago.
So, let’s go over what the big deal here is: the instrument cluster of the Tourbillon, which Bugatti describes like this:
“ANALOGUE ELEGANCE
Inspired by the timeless elegance of watchmaking craft, the TOURBILLON prioritizes an analogue design. The instrument cluster is constructed by Swiss horologists, built to precise watchmaking tolerances featuring over 600 components.”
… is not just watch-inspired, but actually made by Swiss watchmakers, it seems. And, yeah, it’s pretty incredible-looking, with all sorts of gears and escapements and bezels and needles and only one small digital display screen. I mean, look:
So, yeah, it’s a visual treat. But, even more exciting is how it’s set into the center of the steering wheel, and how that wheel moves around it while the instrument cluster stays still. That’s the real punctum of the whole thing, as its mechanically interesting and keeps all those gauges clear and unblocked so you can really see if you’re at 1/8 of a tank or more like 2/17 of a tank while you’re taking a long sweeping turn at 178 mph. Look, you can see it here:
That’s a hell of a party trick, and I get why everyone is so turgid about it. But, I think it’s worth noting that this car was doing just that back in 1971:
That striking wedge-shaped spaceship is the Maserati Boomerang, designed by Italdesign and first shown at the 1971 Turin Auto Show, where it became the platonic ideal of the wedge-shaped sports car design of the 1970s.
The exterior is pretty striking and revolutionary, but we’re here to talk about the instruments and the steering wheel, which had this setup:
Look familiar? While I don’t think any Swiss watch craftsmen were involved with any of this, the concept is the same: instruments remain stationary in the middle, the steering wheel rotates around them. There were at least two versions of the instrument cluster, too; one with the multiple small round gauges, and off-the-shelf switches, and one that was custom-made for the Boomerang:
I’m not even certain the Boomerang was the first car to try this, either; I believe there were earlier examples of this, but I think this Maserati concept car is likely the best known, and likely the best realized.
I guess we could also the 1978 Lancia Siblio, though it didn’t exactly have instruments, just a small display screen and some buttons/warning lights:
That one is deeply weird. And brown, so very very brown.
Anyway, with everyone primed and ready to heap effusive praise onto Bugatti’s latest creation, I wanted to just make sure that those who came before, who paved the way for center-wheel instruments so that the Tourbillon could do its thing and go on tour with billionaires, got their due.
Yes, it’s cool, but Bugatti did not do it first. So there.
Great. Now I gotta unload this Yaris.
And Bugatti is notoriously stingy about trade-ins.
It’s interesting that the selling point here is: “the dashboard is all analogue, there’s physical switches for everything, and there’s only one tiny screen”.
Perhaps this is the start of a movement away from touchscreens and digital dashboards?
I wish this design was more common. Trying to turn down the volume by using the steering wheel button while the wheel is turned 90+degrees is pointless.
Citroën C4 and C5 had the steering wheels with fixed hub, which was probably the first production cars to have them.
That sort of wheel mechanism always looks like it’ll sound like an unlubricated ball bearing race to me. An old lazy-susan that’s been run dry for 20 years.
Wait six weeks and you’ll be able buy one on Aliexpress for 39.95 plus 65 shipping constructed of genuine chinesium guaranteed 200 meters or 200 years from the date and place of manufacture.
My gauge cluster is more like a Timex.
My gauge cluster is more like a Timex.
All of these are a better solution to gauge visibility than the yoke.
All of these are a better solution to gauge visibility than the yoke.
Meh, Ronda is a Swiss watch maker that offers $7 quartz movements. I imagine there is also a Swiss hammer company, and a Swiss napkin brand.
You’re correct Torch in that a Toubillion is a century obsolete device only used now to increase the profit margin on a watch.
Meh, Ronda is a Swiss watch maker that offers $7 quartz movements. I imagine there is also a Swiss hammer company, and a Swiss napkin brand.
You’re correct Torch in that a Toubillion is a century obsolete device only used now to increase the profit margin on a watch.
That gas gauge sure looks like an off the shelf VAG part with a fancier face. And the scales on the oil and water temp gauges should be different. Water temp maxes out well below oil temp’s max. That’d drive me nuts, so I guess I’ll pass on this one.
That gas gauge sure looks like an off the shelf VAG part with a fancier face. And the scales on the oil and water temp gauges should be different. Water temp maxes out well below oil temp’s max. That’d drive me nuts, so I guess I’ll pass on this one.
I wasn’t even to the end of the first sentence & was already LOLing: “Bugatti just unveiled their new Toyota GR Yaris-killer” – seriously, bwahahahaha. Thanks, Torch!
I missed that one because I got distracted by the “tour de farts”
I actually laughed out loud reading that. Perfection
I wasn’t even to the end of the first sentence & was already LOLing: “Bugatti just unveiled their new Toyota GR Yaris-killer” – seriously, bwahahahaha. Thanks, Torch!
I missed that one because I got distracted by the “tour de farts”
I actually laughed out loud reading that. Perfection
“..it’s pretty incredible-looking, with all sorts of gears and escapements and bezels and needles and only one small digital display screen.”
From the perspective of operator interface design, it is poorly executed. Way too busy, with no thought put into abnormal situation management.
A better design would provide emphasis on the critical elements, and de-emphasize the less important information.
Clearly you’re not up to snuff on your horology; the more difficult to read, the better and more expensive the watch.
I love that in the link you put to that watch there is another link for “similar items” and there lies a rip off of the Jacob & Co watch and its only $268 instead of $280k.
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/266427625296?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20200818143230%26meid%3Dfacd83fda721409b8b351b0984b73878%26pid%3D101224%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D116033936334%26itm%3D266427625296%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D4429486%26algv%3DDefaultOrganicWebV9BertRefreshRankerWithCassiniEmbRecall%26brand%3DUnbranded&_trksid=p4429486.c101224.m-1
“..it’s pretty incredible-looking, with all sorts of gears and escapements and bezels and needles and only one small digital display screen.”
From the perspective of operator interface design, it is poorly executed. Way too busy, with no thought put into abnormal situation management.
A better design would provide emphasis on the critical elements, and de-emphasize the less important information.
Clearly you’re not up to snuff on your horology; the more difficult to read, the better and more expensive the watch.
So it’s basically a drain hole creating a whirlpool in rich people’s wallets.
So it’s basically a drain hole creating a whirlpool in rich people’s wallets.
Just for those who don’t know:
“Tourbillon” means “whirlwind” (or “whirlpool,” depending on who you ask) and in especially high-end mechanical timepieces, names a system of suspending the escapement in a moving carriage that turns it over and over, evening out any inconsistencies in its operation due to poise (for instance, a small alteration of the beat due to the clock being held on one side in a pocket for an extended period, as opposed to straight up-and-down) so that the timepiece is more correct in general. The very highest order of tourbillon development is a suspension that turns the escapement over in all three axes. How the escapement regulates the beat through a three-axis suspension is some of the fiddliest engineering you will ever encounter.
And the tourbillon keeps time just as accurate as my $12 Chinese watch!
Just for those who don’t know:
“Tourbillon” means “whirlwind” (or “whirlpool,” depending on who you ask) and in especially high-end mechanical timepieces, names a system of suspending the escapement in a moving carriage that turns it over and over, evening out any inconsistencies in its operation due to poise (for instance, a small alteration of the beat due to the clock being held on one side in a pocket for an extended period, as opposed to straight up-and-down) so that the timepiece is more correct in general. The very highest order of tourbillon development is a suspension that turns the escapement over in all three axes. How the escapement regulates the beat through a three-axis suspension is some of the fiddliest engineering you will ever encounter.
Your mom’s a Swiss horologist.
…I didn’t mean that. I’m sure she’s a very nice lady. Sorry Mrs. Torchinsky.