The center console (British English: centre console) in an automobile refers to the control-bearing surfaces in the center of the front of the vehicle's interior. The term is applied to the area beginning in the dashboard and continuing beneath it, and often merging with the transmission tunnel which runs between the front driver's and passenger's seats of many vehicles. A dashboard from a 1940s car The dashboard of a modern car, a Bentley Continental GT A Hayabusas dash A modern Formula 1 car has all its gauges mounted on the steering wheel A dashboard or dash board in an automobile is a panel located under the windscreen and...

Traditionally vehicles with a gear lever have placed this control where the two areas of console and tunnel merge, or at the rear-most end of the console in front-wheel-drive vehicles without transmission tunnels. In some modern vehicles – particularly vans – this lever is mounted in the front, more vertical part of the center console to be within better reach of the driver without requiring a long stalk. In vehicles with the shift mounted on the steering column the transmission tunnel is carpeted and the armrest, if fitted, is usually larger due to the center console being less cluttered. Front wheel drive is the most common form of engine/transmission layout used in modern passenger cars, where the engine drives the front wheels. ... The armrest in the backseat of a Lincoln Town Car, featuring cupholders. ...

Increasingly, center consoles include a wide variety of storage compartments and cup-holders, in addition to the more traditional use as purely a surface for instruments.