Editing Dashboard (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:Dashboard (PSF).png|right|thumb|Horse-drawn carriage dashboard]]

Originally, the word ''dashboard'' applied to a barrier of wood or leather fixed at the front of a horse-drawn [[Carriage#Body|carriage]] or [[sled|sleigh]] to protect the driver from mud or other debris "dashed up" (thrown up) by the horses' hooves.<ref name="dictionary" /> The first known use of the term (hyphenated as ''dash-board'', and applied to sleighs) dates from 1847.<ref name="OED" /> Commonly these boards did not perform any additional function other than providing a convenient handhold for ascending into the driver's seat, or a small clip with which to secure the reins when not in use.

When the first "[[horseless carriage]]s" were constructed in the late 19th century, with engines mounted beneath the driver such as the [[Daimler Stahlradwagen]], the simple dashboard was retained to protect occupants from debris thrown up by the cars' front wheels. However, as car design evolved to position the motor in front of the driver, the dashboard became a panel that protected vehicle occupants from the heat and oil of the engine. With gradually increasing mechanical complexity, this panel formed a convenient location for the placement of gauges and minor controls, and from this evolved the modern instrument panel, although retaining its [[Archaic period (North America)|archaic]] common name.

The first mass-produced automobile, the [[Oldsmobile Curved Dash]], got its name from its dashboard, which was curved like that of a sleigh.<ref>{{cite magazine|url={{Google books|nCEDAAAAMBAJ|Popular Science Dec 1951|page=RA1-PA129#v=twopage|plainurl=yes}}|last=Soule|first=Gardner|title=From Coast to Coast in an Old Old Olds|pages=129–132, [https://books.google.com/books?id=nCEDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PARA1-PA258 258]|magazine=[[Popular Science]]|date=December 1951|volume=159|issue=6|editor-last=Torrey|editor-first=Volta|publisher=Popular Science Publishing|location=New York}} Article on a 1904 Olds making a coast to coast trip with detailed photo of subject on p. 130.</ref>