I know I geek out on this stuff. I found this in a 1985 Camry in the junk yard and was sure it would fit in the Celica. Plugs into the factory wiring and works great! I didn't even clean it (should have). I love this stuff!
I'm thinking in 1985, that's about as good as factory audio got. Digital tuner, metal, dolby. And the EQ is pretty bad ass. The sliders light up with the lights.
Neat.
Anybody else got a cool old factory stereo?
I have a factory Cadillac under-dash 8-track. Anyone interested? I'll make you a killer deal.
I know that back in the late 80's, any Honda stereo marked Full Logic was an Alpine.
fast_eddie_72 wrote: I'm thinking in 1985, that's about as good as factory audio got. Digital tuner, metal, dolby. And the EQ is pretty bad ass. The sliders light up with the lights. Neat. Anybody else got a cool old factory stereo?
Not pictured: The joystick in the center console, or the separate amps for the front and rear speakers.
In reply to Knurled:
That's awesome! What car is that?
Rx-7, GSL-SE I think.
I actually dig vintage factory radios, especially from the 80's because there was a lot of audio companies jumping into the factory radio game. You'll see a lot of Pioneer, Bose, Blaupunkt, etc.
I still have my factory Clarion out of my '81 Rx-7 I no longer have.
How about this gem? Top of the line in a motorhome in 1981.
And this is the CB the factory installed. Its actually a pretty high end unit and the only 40 channel HF CB motorola ever made. I would like to make it work but it needs a new mike which is unobtanium because it has a 10 pin plug which is at least 4 more than anything else out there.
Neither of my old cars have a cool radio. My truck (1987 Chevy S10) has an AM radio and only one speaker which only seems to pickup the local Spanish radio station. I crave taco's when I drive it.
The 951 still has its factory Blaupunkt cassette deck. I use my Android tablet with one of those fake-tape adapters with a headphone plug, and the sound quality never ceases to... thoroughly disappoint. Especially compared to the factory system in my old '90 Celica, which was phantasmagorically amazing. Although I think the fault in the Porsche is more with the 25-year-old speakers and wiring than the head unit itself.
I still have a box of really high quality blank mastering cassettes somewhere. If I had the time I would re-do the speakers & wiring, record some thumping mix tapes, and cruise in style.
^^ Not mine. I would love to have that equalizer but I just have the head unit with a cubbyhole underneath.
I don't have a closer shot handy, but here's the (to my knowledge) original radio in my GT6. Three AM and two FM presets. One speaker (mounted in the "parcel tray). Nobody in this car picked up women using their soundsystem.
Since I mentioned it in the last post, here is the best sound system I've ever had in anything. All factory, from 1990! (Not my car but I had the same one.)
^^ Note the door subs and tweeters. Unfortunately I never had the OE double-decker head unit, mine had an aftermarket piece with a blanking plate when I got it, so I swapped it for one with USB input. All speakers, wiring, and amp were still stock. Sounded totally great.
Cool stuff, guys! Keep um coming! These things are really neat.
i'm currently in the "should i really do this?" part of the planning stage of putting a factory am/fm 8 track deck out of a 76 Ford LTD into my 98 Cavalier... it's sitting in the hole in the dash and i bought a wiring adapter, but i need to figure out which wires do what on the radio and make a mounting plate for it..
petegossett wrote: I have a factory Cadillac under-dash 8-track. Anyone interested? I'll make you a killer deal.
With CB?
SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: Rx-7, GSL-SE I think.
MOST '84-85 RX-7s had that stereo. I've only ever seen one that did not have the equalizer, and it was a bare-bones zero-option base model. What you are looking at is actually three seprarate components, you can remove the EQ and it'd still work, and I'm fairly sure that you could remove the tape deck and it'd still work.
Trivia. That is NOT a GSL-SE, or a GSL, because it doesn't have the pushbutton HVAC. The slider style HVAC is pretty rare and only found on base models.
I'm surprised nobody is making 80's throwback vintage stereos, since everything else 80's is cool again.
Modern stereos light up like Times Square and look horribly out of place in older cars.
In other news, Crutchfield still offers a Pioneer cassette deck.
Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude.
In reply to bearmtnmartin:
Do you have the old mic and/or the wiring diagram?
my volvo is technically a '91... but the stereo is firmly 80's... cassette with all the kewl sliders and knobs... but i've got a 6 disc out back
Someone should do an online museum of cool car stereos. Here's a shot at night.
Notice I have the "Phase Diffusion" button on because that... makes another light light up.
The very best thing about those stereos is that nobody will break your window to steal one of them. And around here, that is a serious consideration.
Dr. Hess wrote: In reply to bearmtnmartin: Do you have the old mic and/or the wiring diagram?
Thats the old mic in the pic. And no wiring diagram. I am dropping it off at a radio store next week. They laughed at me but said they would look.
Streetwiseguy wrote: The very best thing about those stereos is that nobody will break your window to steal one of them. And around here, that is a serious consideration.
Bingo! All the cool and none of the worry. They have it all! I mean, except for power and aux inputs. lol Pulled mine out just now so I can clean it and do some maintenance on the cassette deck. That will fix the aux input problem! I have a pretty nice pair of speakers in the back of the car, but I'm thinking they must not be nearly as efficient as the factory speakers. The EQ has an amp, so it's more power than the base stereo, but it's still very hard to hear on the highway with the windows down. Oh well. I have a wiring problem on the right front speaker. I'll just have to fix that so I can use them more.
I have a becker mexico for my mercedes which I want to send to becker autosound and have redone with a MP3 input in the back so I can hook up an MP3 to the stereo in the glove box.
Those panasonic stereos are too cool. Damn I feel the inner hipster coming out.
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