"Slightly" modified dashboards

RazorbackNOR · January 30, 2008, 09:19:10 AM

So, some peple love the orginal Murena dashboard, other (like me) think it's a bit too much 80's these days. This car here i Norway, can be said to have a modified dashboard i would say....

So, does anybody else out there have any un-orginal dashboards....?

macaroni · January 30, 2008, 12:06:45 PM

Wow, very TVR!

Mine has a SONY headunit fitted, does that count?

Oskar · January 30, 2008, 03:12:21 PM

ohh my god

krede · January 30, 2008, 03:33:10 PM

OOHhhhhh I can't wait to hear what Michael has to say about that!!!

....

But since you brought It up... I once spoke to a guy about fitting the 505 turbo engine in the murena, who had made THIS:

Pretty neat if you ask me...but a complete void of originality.... so a no no in my book.. unless you are building sort of a kit car based on the murena and so is prepared to strip it of its "murena" and "Matra"badges afterwards.

I believe there are a few more pics of his car in the gallery.

Me, I once planned to fit complete set of digital instruments, as I think that would have suited the car (when I was build)...
All nice high tech, French and weird....
But in the end I opted to keep it just the way it is...... I REALLY REALLY wish they had give the Murena digital instruments... and then might have dome so if the budget had allowed for it... but it didnt.. so they gave it some instruments they had on the shelf.. and thus that is how I think it should stay.

lewisman · January 30, 2008, 04:18:23 PM

:oPerhaps if there was an Alfa V6 in the back you could almost get away with this but I don't know if I would like my murena to look like my 156 inside!

I have seen the fisrt picture before and agree it is a bit TVR-ish. I like the stitched leather on the dash top but the overall effect is not my taste.

Bart_Maztra · January 30, 2008, 06:44:43 PM

It seems more like a photoshop to me.

lewisman · January 30, 2008, 08:06:02 PM

Quote from: Bart_Maztra on January 30, 2008, 06:44:43 PM
It seems more like a photoshop to me.

I will stick a measuring tape across both cars to see if it would physically fit but you could be right. I doubt if the Alfa instruments would work in a murena- especially the electric speedo. They only just about work in an Alfa!

macaroni · January 30, 2008, 08:11:51 PM

I think the Alfa one is definitely a photo-shop. Look at the centre console and how it protrudes between the seats; the leather isn't ruffled at all.
Looks great though... (runs and hides!)

krede · January 30, 2008, 09:06:48 PM

Yep... its a photo shop.. just re read what he wrote in the letter.... (he is from Serbia so the English is bit rough)...
I had doubts myself... mainly because the steering wheel look like it fits too neatly... and there is something about the gear leaver that doesn't seem right....
It looks pretty sweet... but so does most Alfa interiors

Lennart Sorth · January 30, 2008, 09:59:27 PM

Definitely photoshop - hard edges around most of the dash is a dead giveaway.

But the discussion is valid anyway. If the car was produced today, it would obviously get a new dash - and dreaming/imagining has never been bad for the soul. I quite like the Alfa look. (not that I would ever venture into actually doing such a conversion)

But I hate to think how difficult that Alfa-Murena would be to get into 1st or 3'rd gear (or how your knuckles would look afterwards) - the Alfa dash is from a time well after sloppy gear-changes

/Lennart

RazorbackNOR · January 31, 2008, 09:38:09 PM

Hmm.. No one has done other things than change headunit....?

michaltalbot · February 01, 2008, 07:41:00 AM

Better, no comment. Murena IS the car from 80's! Only question - when people doesn't like it how it is looking originaly, why they bought a Murena? So, where is the problem, they can go and buy Alfa Romeo, or TVR or something else which they will like and won't be in need to destruct next survived Murena. Probably they don't have money for Alfa, TVR or Ferrari, but this is not a clever and nice way to reach them.

bist · February 05, 2008, 10:45:49 AM

hi matrats
i personaly think that every other brand on matra stink,
but owners creativity can be worth while, if something can be better why not

want more photoshop?

dashboard must be pure sportlish, simple and efective, straight line based, like this one
anyone recognize from where it is

the one from 156 i used to have and i was curious, to use it for shapening,like starting point, but its pointless
its very bad photoshop done in few minutes just for geting sense

Anders Dinsen · February 06, 2008, 06:27:56 PM

Hi Bist, and welcome to the forum!!

Murena was a crossover between a coupé and a sports car, and that shows in the styling. The handling could have justfied a more sporty look, but that was not - I'm sure - the intention of the designer. The designer was thinking comfort, and practicality, and has deliberately chosen to design the car to signal these properties. The front of the car with the popup headlights and (for the early 80's) very aerodynamic spoiler is the sporty part of the car, whereas from the rear end, the car looks large and powerful, but also pleasing and stylish.

Had the Murena been concieved as a pure sports car, it would have looked quite different. It wasn't. It was a good compromise, a car that you could actually have as your only car, and still have lots of fun in.

I don't care what people do to their Murena's, but I find the original design to be complete as it is. That includes the interior. No need to change anything!

- Anders

davidewanprice · February 06, 2008, 06:55:21 PM

I saw a replacement dash on Ebay a while agothat someone had constructed with new (Smith style) dials, it looked pretty good but ive only seen that one, wish i'd kept a phot now. I think it might have been an improvement BUT thats not to say i dont like the original.

"Slightly" modified dashboards

davidewanprice