And then there’s cars/dashes/switches with OEM label tags designed to be above the switches. Oh, and also at least 3 different nighttime illumination variations for heater controls...
That's why I think down is on and up is off. Like with the toggle switches in the 330 GT 2+2 and 275 GTB.
I remember once asking my mechanic Patrick which release lever was for the fuel and which was for the trunk on my Daytona. His answer was it depended on which was Luigi built it that day. On a related note to the fan comment, when I first got my car it had about 20,000 miles on it and I bought it from the original owner. I did a mechanical refresh when I bought it, (Major+carbs, and some suspension stuff). First warm day I noticed it was running on the warm side. I drove straight to the shop. It turns out that the fans in the front grill were turning the wrong way and they were blowing out. They tried switching the wires and it had no effect. So they took them out to rebuild them. (I think there were two, this was 25 years ago.) Anyway, Patrick was certain that these were original and showed no signs of ever being removed. It was a head scratcher.
I've noted same discrepancy between several examples over the years, including unrestored ("virgin" ?) cars and while switching them one way or another during restoration will require fair amount effort and planning, I could easily see related components getting accidentally(?) mixed up during something like a Spider-conversion. See post #4. Been there, done (& solved) that issue on couple of cars in which said blower assemblies appeared having not been messed with since original installation, although the my latest encounter was just a few years ago, so 40+ years had passed since the day it was done.
Since I’m currently working on three different cars and their carburetors, I realized yet another operational direction inconsistency of various cabin/console/dash levers/switches in these cars. It seems there are/were at least two somewhat contradictory modus operandi used on cold start choke controls. Some pull on/push off, some push on/pull off. Makes sense, right ?
P.S. Haven’t had a chance to see what, if any, operating instructions are provided in Owners Manuals, but wouldn’t be surprised if they somehow differ from both.