Tim Mainieri’s 1953 Chevy Truck with Dakota Digital instrumentation. All photos from www.dakotadigital.com

Dakota Digital is one of the leaders in digital instrumentation for cars and motorcycles. Each month, they deliver a car feature on their “Motor Market Magazine” showcase in a piece called the “Six-Degrees” column. The featured vehicles are some of the nicest custom vehicles found around the world. The only qualifying element needed in order to be considered is that the build must incorporate Dakota Digital products to bring the six-degrees of connection to every other project car built with Dakota Digital instruments.

In March, the featured vehicle was a 1953 Chevy Truck owned by Tim Mainieri. The truck recieved a frame-off restoration, and benefits from a low-milage LS engine swap, air suspension, and a new distressed paint job. While it may seem odd to do a full frame-off restoration and finish it like a well-worn old work truck, this build takes the weather-beaten character and blends in solid daily driver with a modernly-efficient engine.

To qualify for the “Six-Degrees,” Mainieri’s dash includes a set of the VHX-47C-PU analog instruments designed for 1947 to 1953 Chevy trucks. The gauges feature classic curves that work well with the existing dash and interior lines of these vehicles. The gauges are fully machined with show chromed bezels, making installation effortless. Fully lit needles, back-lit faces, and highly-visible LCD message centers set the VHX Series apart from traditional instrumentation.

A few of the other features you don’t normally see in traditional instruments are the micro-controlled precision stepper-motors, solid state sensors, and user-customizable display feedback. All of this is supported by a limited lifetime warranty. To see more of Mainieri’s truck, click here. For more information on Dakota Digital or their line of instrumentation, visit them online at dakotadigital.com