That guage set in the picture is an example of ideal for the reason you stated. The next best thing may be a heads up display but the jury is still out on that one for ground travel. In my opinion.
The Worse years were in the 50's up into the 80's but the 60's the absolute worse! They, the manufacturers, had to STYLE everything. Market research was the new big deal. It gave us the Edsel, it even gave us ridiculous advertising like the Thunderbird with four doors and a guy dressed up like an airline captain fiddling with overhead switches! Chrysler even had styled guages sprouting in the speedo "greenhouse" like potted plants! Assinine to say the least.
Thankfully, the designers, stylists and manufacturers have seemed to come full circle to simple, easy-to-read instruments. There has always (mostly) been a mission in aviation to make all guages easy to read. Let's pray the non-aviation bunch follow suit.
