400i radio

My car is 1983 production and came with a Blaupunkt Toronto radio/cassette player.

 

My '84 had the Toronto also.
Good luck finding one that has the casette working.
I sent mine to a repair shop 3 years ago and they gave up trying to find parts after two years.
The same little plastic part must break in all of them causing the casette to not be retained in the slot for playing.
So I also gave up and installed a Kenwood KDC-X696 with CD player and a lot of electronic whiz bangs. It isn't remotely stock but it works.
Greg

 

I don't think that I ever even tried the cassette player as I almost never listen to the radio anyway since the sound of the engine is so beautiful. I changed it out for a Nakamichi radio/cd player unit about 3 years ago and whoever buys my car will get the Toronto too if wanted.

 

Truth be told, I have never bothered to turn on the Kenwood outside of the garage. Like you I listen to the engine when actually moving.
However, there are stretches on I-35 in Iowa that can require a good dose of Larry Williams or The Stones to get through.
It is always best to be prepared.
Greg

 

Does anyone know if a later model Toronto from a 412 would fit in a 1984 400i? In a concours judging, would that be a disqualification? Thanks

 

[ATTACH = full] 3016352 [/ ATTACH]
Non era una radio montata di serie, ma non è 'male ....

 

My 1984 51779 also has a Toronto...

 

Dedo? Why are you responding to 7 year old threads?

 

Toronto SQR32 is right for 1984. Can also be seen in the catalogue of 400 S2. It is mechanicaly and optical equal to the Bremen SQR32, but the Bremen does not have ARI. This is also the only optical difference. Otherwise technically interchageable.
I do have the Toronto and repaired it with Bremen bits. The design had an inbuilt fault about the throwout of the casette mechanism. Installed a new one from a Bremen. There was even a separat manual for the Toronto...
Christopher

 

I've long noticed that the SQR32 was also sold in two earlier versions called the Washington and the Geneve. All four units are marked SQR32. I believe the Washington/Geneve are a year or two older than the Toronto/Bremen pair. My 84 came with a Toronto SQR32...still has it.

 

[QUOTE = "bjwhite, post: 147485816, member: 31400"] Dedo? Perché rispondi a thread di 7 anni fa? [/ CITAZIONE]

Caro Amico Bjwhite ....

Grazie per la domanda ... ecco la risposta ....

Per la prima volta sto leggendo, con attenzione e simpatia, i diversi Forum che raccontano delle mie auto ... e quando vedo qualcosa di interessante (... ma non solo per me, lo spero ...) rispondo.
Tutto sommato, i nostri veicoli hanno quasi mezzo secolo di vita ....un thread di " soli " 7 anni, e' ancora " recentissimo "....

Una buona settimana

 

Endless (7+year longs?) debates on vintage car audio. Most F-Chatter will explain us why the only proper sound system in a Ferrari is under the bonnet... I beg to differ and I do really like music in these cars. Let's be clear on what I mean by "I like music" : I do not like that chunk of plastic and metal that sits on the dashboard, I just want from time to time to switch on the radio and enjoy the ride.

The Blaupunkt are no stellar performers of that era. As far as styling is concerned, the knob-style units from the 70s are nice. I am not such a fan of the units from the 80s. In a sense these units are perfect for a 308 owner that wants to fill a hole in the dashboard and only enjoys V8 music.

Alpine are out as these were used in Lamborghini... Really like the look and feature though.

Nakamichi, are perfect, except for the insane market value ($800 for a tape reader?)

Becker Grand Prix in the 70s were absolutely beautiful with the stripe-face plate (same faceplate as dedo's), but these are not period correct. In the early 80s we had the same old fashioned technology (the units did not receive any update) except for the plain black face plate and huge black knobs. This was OK for a Mercedes 300d owner who did not enjoy the music (gurgling) of his diesel engine.

Becker Electronics where much better and although they were also fitted in Mercedes, these mercedes had V8s. Becker Grand Prix Electronic (type 780) sounds and looks good (hard to fix though). That's what I would use in an a Ferraris that left the factory after 1983.

For earlier car, I really like Philips unts: these do have good sound, good look (old fashioned knobs) and unlike Blaupunkt are even quite sophisticated: automatic music search, memories, etc... Just got mine on ebay for $8 !

There is however one item that I will under no circumstances keep stock or period correct: the crappy speakers! A mid-range ($100) set of peaker, designed for low amp car radio can convert a modest 8w radio in a really capable system. I do have some JBL units, but I was positively surprised by the sound Focal speakers could deliver out of a vintage unit.

By the way, best 400 setup so far is Otto's!

 

Which is? Can be found where? Just out of curiosity. I love to play 80s tapes on the Toronto ;-)

 

His mechanic recycled a cheap subwoofer and made a superb enclosure encased just under the second air-conditioning unit.

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/posts/143895767/



I must confess I made a shameless copy of his idea.

Back to the subject: there is a really nice website that describes numerous vintage car radios. If you are in the market for a period correct unit, that's really where you should have a look first. At least you can identify for each brand what were the models for sales in a given year. There are some good alternatives to the Blaupunkt.

https://antique-autoradio-madness.org/

 

Thanks for the info and the nice link. I personally am not looking for an other unit and am happy with the original Toronto. For speakers I updated them in the original housings.

Thanks
Christopher

 

The Blaupunkt was 4x5w (some manuals read 4x7w), which was really "modest". One of my relatives 412 has an additional amplifier in the trunk which he believes to be stock. This makes the Blaupunkt sound much better obviously...

I would be curious to know if this was the regular factory setup or a dealer upgrade? Also wondering if the amplifier was just a plain booster feeding only the rear speakers, or a "proper" install with additional cabling for the front speakers and low level line-in coming from the dashboard?

 

SQR32 was a very expensive unit (DM1600!), and in 1984 it was already ageing (issued in 1981): not sure they sold millions of units. Finding one today is probably going to be a challenge.

There are a few alternative as bjwhite pointed out : Toronto, Geneve, Washington, Monterey,Koln,Bremen, these are all based on the same SQR32 platform. Could be used as part donor to fix a broken Toronto...

When the Ferrari owner had to make it do with a 4*5w SQR32, The Porsche 911 was fitted with the SQR82 that was delivering 4*15w!

http://antique-autoradio-madness.org/Blaupunkt/Blaup_81/Blaup_81_02.htm : this page lists them all with detailed references
http://antique-autoradio-madness.org/Blaupunkt/Blaup_81/Blaup_81_Cata81_02.htm : Blaupunkt brochures of that era

 

I too am trying to find a radio for my 400i. I really dislike the one I have (I think it's some sort of Kenwood) because it has the "second button" action where you have to push one button then a second to get to the function you want. OK when sitting in the garage but a non-starter when on the road.

But the biggest problem is I can't see the LED display in the sunlight with the angle of the dashboard. I'm trying to find a radio of some sort with an LCD display but am having no luck. You can see LCD's in direct sunlight. XM capable and possibly CD's too. Any suggestions?

 

This is the radio the car came with when I bought it. Looks to be from a 1989 or so MB. I just realized it has an LCD display, I've never had it plugged in to check. The installer that put in my current radio (actually a JVC, not a Kenwood i mentioned above) said the wiring from the Becker would not work in my car (the Becker was not hooked up, it was just laying in the dashboard slot). The car has some sort of large diameter clear plastic speaker wires with banana plugs on the ends (sorry, no pictures) as if it originally had some sort of amplifier. Nothing like that in there now.

Anyone have experience with the Becker? It's been modified by Becker Autosound for Bluetooth connection
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I've got a Becker 780 that is just a bit older than this one. Excellent units with good sound, excellent radio reception, good ergonomy, also tape azimuth can be easily adjusted . Only complains are 1) the anti-theft system which go nuts when the built-in battery is depleted. 2) the electronic circuit (phenolic board?) is fragile and the traces do break easily when manipulated. 3) not period correct as the first nice Becker electronics are from 86 (the previous one does look cheap).

 

Thanks. Can you see the digital readout in the sunlight?

 

Bump