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Hi All,

Whilst reading some magazines I came across an article on the diamond T trucks. The article showed a picture of the dash which appears to use the exact same gauges as that of the 10th & 11th Series Packard. I found an image online which shows the gauges (not the best angle) but I was wondering is there any connection between these two companies, or were these gauges made by an outside source and were available to different manufactures at that time?

Kind regards,
Mathew

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Is there also a picture of the trucks front sheet metal tat mite also be Packard????

Is there anything else in the interior of the truck that appears to be Packar???? I'm not familiar enuf with 10th - 11th series to determine that.

Images of the trucks can be found at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/truckpix/5880125563/in/photostream/

Most likely the gauge or panel manufacturer sold the panels to Diamond T after Packard was through using them. Smaller vehicle makers often bought, off the shelf, obsolete parts like door handles, window cranks etc. to save the cost of tooling. This was gravy for the hardware manufacturer and the original customer did not care.

Slightly off the topic but I recently helped an airplane restorer find NOS 1940 Chev interior door handles for his project. Piper used the identical handles in the early fifties.

Or, maybe the gauge panels are different and the similarity of appearance is a coincidence. Only a direct comparison would answer the question for sure.

Despite the similarities, there are some differences. For example the speedo in the Diamond T does not have a full scale of 120 mph.

EDIT: I believe Packard purchased the gauges from Waltham; at least the clock and speedometer are so marked. No connection between Diamond T and Packard.

I was suggesting Diamond T bought the panels off the shelf from the panel manufacturer. Then installed their own choice of gauges. They may not have even known what car it was designed for.

I know this was done at the time, because of an article about the 1936 Cord. The designer of the car said one of the ways they saved time and money, was to use off the shelf interior door handles and window cranks bought from the firm that made hardware for all the car companies. They dressed up this obsolete hardware with big showy plastic knobs.

The only way to tell for sure would be to compare them side by side. But it is at least a possibility.