First-ever Formula 1 car to utilize digital display dashboard and last-ever Formula 1 car to utilize analog dashboard

[willga]

Not exaxtly refering to your question, but leaning on this: The first ever car to utilize the controls on the steering wheel instead of the dashboard was the 412T2 as this was developed by John Barnard at this time. The displa also on the steering wheel was a follow up invention somewhere beyond this point.

The 412T2 had quite a basic Momo-built steering wheel for Jean Alesi who liked to hold the wheel at 10-to-2 like a Go-Kart. Gerhard Berger had a bespoke butterfly-shaped wheel, but still out of plate aluminium with rubber grips.

JB pioneered the knobs-on wheel on the 1996 F310 with displays on the rim of the hollow carbonfibre wheel. This was taken a step further for the 1997 F310B, moving the dash LCD displays into the space between the steering wheel boss and the rim. He took the concept with him when he moved to Arrows in 1998 (A19), by which time it was being adopted up and down the pitlane.

[smirkoff]

The very first ever F1 to try a digital display was the Brabham BT46 surface-cooled car of 1977. It has a very simple four digit display at the center of the Momo steering wheel. The display was discarded when the car was modified for the 1978 season.

The question about the last car to have an analog display is a very good one. I think that the last analog displays were used at the late 80's, early 90's. By 1990 digital displays were seen even in less-funded teams, like Larrousse and AGS. I did a photo research and found that Williams' last analog display was in the FW12C of 1989, Tyrrell's in the 1990's 019, March/Leyton House's in the 1990's CG901, Lotus' in the 1989's T101, Benetton's in the 1990's B190 (which have an analog RPM watch and a digital display).

About HUDs, Lotus did a lot of testing with a helmet visor projector in 1993, but the money problems of the team in 1994 for sure cancelled all further research.