back in the early 70's, the speed limit varied between states. around 75-76, the speed limit was set nationaly at 55. when this was done, all speedos were marked at 55 for easy reference. line the indicator up with the big red number and you were there. .look at any vehicle older than the mid 70's, and you will see there is no 55 marker.

 

I admit there is a more temptation to bury the needle, since it is possible, but I really miss the 85 mph speedometers. I'm never going to drive my Ranger 120, or my father's Focus 140, so I don't need the speedometer to go that high. In the Focus, highway cruising has the needle pointed straight up.

 

My 79 Cordoba says "85" as the highest. It has a 360 2bbl and it just LOVEs to GO, give it half a chance.

My 81 E100 4.9 van also shows "85" as the highest too. Get better mileage at about 55 than higher.

 

In 1977 the Carter administration's NHTSA dept head was a woman by the name of Joan Claybrook. She absolutely HATED cars/car enthusiasts and anything that we like she automatically disliked.

She was a militant leftist who preached that private ownership of automobiles should eventually be regulated down to one per family, that any vehicle capable of what she called "excessive" acceleration and speed should be banned, and that all non official vehicles should be equipped with governors or other means to keep them at 55 or less. This was for starters, btw. She also wanted things like emissions control devices retrofitted to all vehicles dating back to the 1955 model year, and things like knock off wheels (already not factory equipped after 1967 or so), side pipes, etc were to be removed and retrofitted with more "civil" equipment. She also wanted the aftermarket speed manufacturers to be regulated like the gun industry so that "improper equipment" doesn't find its way onto street vehicles.

she was the one who ruled the 85mph speedo for civilians. And the 55 was to be "highlighted" as well. this silly rule stayed on for a while. However, Ford and a few others began "experimenting" with speedos that had higher limits in the 80s. by late 80s more and more cars had more realistic speedos with 120 or higher readings, although the 85 still lived on. By early 90s it had been tossed on most vehicles.

Although...many auto makers do put governors on cars. It's usually in regards to tire ratings more than anything else though.

 

i was expecting my 76 f-150 to have an 85mph speedo but it has a 100mph does anyone know why that is?

 

It's pre-77. I had a 76 Cadillac that went to 100 also.
That was the year that it really started. Although GM was more inclined to follow than Ford/Chrysler. They went to 85 max in 78

 

gotcha thanks

 

Wow thank you guys, all of you had great info about this. My '94 still has them, but I don't know of anything later than that that does.
Add that to my little knowledge base now!

 

my 95 F-150 has one... so now you know that it goes at least one year later

 

My 97 goes to 120mph

(this has been proven to 100....hehehehe)