This is kinda 'backyard' but if you have cruise, set the cruise control. If the car goes out of cruise when the gauges die, it could be the speed sensor. If the car does not drop out of cruise, then it's probably the gauge cluster. As to the Neon cluster, Google something like 'Neon gauge problem'. This failure seems to be common.
"We live in a time when intelligent people are being silenced so that stupid people won't be offended".
