As an engineer, I’ve got two big loves: cars and watches. So, when Bugatti dropped their new tourbillon model with its unique speedometer/tachometer dial showing both revs and speed, I was obsessed. Unfortunately, my wallet was not.

Instead of a Bugatti or a tourbillon, I settled for a 20-year-old BMW. After realizing I wasn’t about to pull off a custom dash that looks like a luxury watch, I thought, “Why not flip it and make a clock that looks like a car dash?”

And thus, the dashboard clock was born! It’s got separate hour and minute dials, a design inspired by speedometers, and while it’s a bit more fiddly to set, I think its uniqueness makes up for it.

Assembly diagram:

I also painted the tips of the arrows red so they stand out more

Things to watch out for when setting the time:

Make sure the hour hand matches where the minute hand would be, e.g. at 3:30

The minute hand would be facing the bottom and the hour hand would be halfway between 3 and four