Original car radio in 400GT?

I think you're clicking on the 'post reply' icon below the post (left side) that you're wanting to reply to.
Instead, click on the 'quote' icon (lower right corner within the post). When the reply window comes up, click below the quote to post your reply.

If you want to reply to multiple posts in one reply, then click on the ("+) icon next to the 'quote' icon on all of the posts except for the last one...then click on the 'quote' icon.
For instance, say you want to reply to 3 of the posts on a thread...simply click on the ("+) icon for the first 2 posts & then click on the 'quote' icon on the third post. Your reply window will come up with the 3 quotes. Click at the end of the first quote, hit the 'enter' key twice & key in your reply, & so on.
You can dissect a quote into multiple quotes but we won't get into that until you're comfortable with the above.

 

Good Gregg, 4 speakers are better than 2.

+1! to all 3 of U's.

 

I have a retrofitted Grundig that is converted to play my mp3 player, smartphone and it still plays the good old tape too. Must admit I have never used the radio.
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I have been trying to buy the current production Blaupunkt Toronto for months. They are available but mostly sold via Cypress which is somewhat remote from Missouri.
Yesterday I received a Toronto from within the US and I shipped it back today. It was incomplete in the box. It had no remote, no installation guide, no electrical diagram and no pigtail for power.
So I have given up on any attempt at authenticity and have ordered a Kenwood KCD-X696 form Crutchfields.
I'll report on how it works out. I have hope of sucess because the guy on the Crutchfield end asked all the right questions and provided me with his extention number in case of any surprises.
You do have to call because, surprisingly enough, they do not list Ferrari in their car make listings.
Also, even the Ferrari music fades after 8 hours of steady mile grinding at 70-80 MPH. By the 10 hour mark some other, non-destructive, sound is helpful.
Greg

 

Interesting site:

http://www.vintagecarradio.com/store/index.php?cPath=20_53

 

Before you buy, Google Custom + Autosound + crap and read a few of the owners' forum threads in the results. You'll see some satisfied customers among the unhappy ones, it's true, but I wouldn't put their stuff in a car of mine at gunpoint.

 

Thank Bill Lear (the Lear Jet guy) for the 8 track - kind of sorry it didn;t take off (pun intended..)

John

 

...I remember the 8 track taking off quite well, however, if there are people in this thread who are just getting acquainted with an 8 track, I guess there are few besides me who could attest to it's popularity.

All the top recording artists had their work on 8 track, cars came factory with the top of the line radio's and tape set ups with 8 tracks. It was a big deal.

I remember hearing a lot of good music from them, now, excuse me while I replace the battery in my hearing aid, and check my supply of efferdent.

 

Make sure that you also have a carton of Depends on hand and a shawl to ward off the chill while you are sitting in the rocking chair! LOL!

You are right about the 8 track technology. In a time before cassettes and when LP records and reel to reel tape recorders were the standard methods of listening to recorded music at home, the 8 track continuous tape loop enclosed in a compact container was considered a revolutionary way to listen to recorded music in cars.

I was around during the 70's when 8 tracks were popular but I never had one in my cars during those days, which were a variety of Triumphs, Alfas and BMWs, none of which was fancy enough I suppose to have good stereo systems in them.

 

As a little boy with my Dad driving the motorhome, We listened to a lot of Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, Bobby Goldsboro, and the Beatles on 8 track. My radio solution will be a Becker Europa with an auxillary input installed

 

As a new driver in 1970 I was heavily into 8-tracks. I ultimately had about 150 of them. Their higher tape speed made them theoretically superior to cassettes. However, Dolby noise reduction had not been invented, so the hiss was pretty bad. They also had the design flaw that pulling the tape out of the center spool would stretch it, degrading the sound. Also, putting eight separate tracks on a tape about 1/4" wide required great precision in positioning the playback head. This was not always achieved, resulting in cross-talk from the tracks located on either side of ones you were playing. The stretching problem -- and also the dreaded tape-eating problem -- made this medium a poor choice for archival purposes. This is why the cool kids can still play their REO Speedwagon and Grand Funk Railroad LPs on vinyl, but those of us who sunk our hard-earned lawn mowing and busboy money into 8-tracks cannot.

 

Aaww man, those cars were a blast back then , worthy of decent sound.

 

I guess what I was getting at is that my dad had one of the first in Australia - great sound - but there was very little choice available here and then cassettes took over..

John

 

They were a blast but my college student budget was barely able to keep them running. Forget about adding a killer stereo!

 

I'm curious, what 'killer' companies made car audio in 8-track format?
I remember (back in the day ) installing a 4 speaker Sony in my TR6 that sounded pretty darn good I thought for around $180.

 

Let's put it this way, in the 70's the only "sound system" my cars had was the stock AM/FM radio with a single speaker in the dash. The TR-250 might have had two speakers in the back valance behind the seats, I just don't remember. Later cars were three Alfa 1750s (two Berlinas and a GTV) and a BMW 1600, all with minimal sound systems.

In 1972, $180 would buy me 36 tanks, that's tanks, not gallons, of gas for the TR-250 at an average $5.00 a fillup when premium was $0.42/gallon. I sometimes would avoid the MassPike toll of 35 cents and drive straight in Rt 9 to Boston to save money.

 

My...have things changed!