Aspen500
Well-Known Member
As of Sept 1st 1979 the NHTSA mandated speedometers to show a maximum of 85 mph and to highlight the 55.
After March 28th, 1982 the law went away and the speedo could show whatever the manufacturer wanted it to.
Now for the odd one. The original cluster in my '79 Aspen (ink stamped May 23, 1979) is 85 mph of course but the 55 is not highlighted (not circled or printed in orange, etc) and it doesn't have the KM/H scale, yet the law supposedly required the 55 to be highlighted. Every other speedo I've seen for a '78-'79 Aspen had the KM/H scale printed in light blue inside the MPH scale. With Mopar's, never say never I guess.
Now for a little speedometer irony. My '96 Dakota 3.9L has a 110 mph speedo but one time a few years ago I checked the top speed just for the heck of it. Gets to 80 fairly quick, then creeps up to 85 where the massive 175 hp and brick like aerodynamics makes a natural speed limiter, lol.
After March 28th, 1982 the law went away and the speedo could show whatever the manufacturer wanted it to.
Now for the odd one. The original cluster in my '79 Aspen (ink stamped May 23, 1979) is 85 mph of course but the 55 is not highlighted (not circled or printed in orange, etc) and it doesn't have the KM/H scale, yet the law supposedly required the 55 to be highlighted. Every other speedo I've seen for a '78-'79 Aspen had the KM/H scale printed in light blue inside the MPH scale. With Mopar's, never say never I guess.
Now for a little speedometer irony. My '96 Dakota 3.9L has a 110 mph speedo but one time a few years ago I checked the top speed just for the heck of it. Gets to 80 fairly quick, then creeps up to 85 where the massive 175 hp and brick like aerodynamics makes a natural speed limiter, lol.