Favorite moment with music in your car.


1970. I had one of Norelco’s first car cassette players. I’d connected it to 4 box speakers. Had my honey at my side, driving 8 kids up the hill to school every day. We’re in my yellow 1955 Ford Station wagon, dubbed ‘The Bus’. Music blasting, kids singing along to:
Aretha, Van, Uriah Heep, Supertramp, Beatles, Stones, Black Sabbath, Doors, etc

Please share your own.

 

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I don't listen to audio of any kind in the car. You'd be amazed how distracting it is when you become used to focusing exclusively on the road.

Back in 1971 while I was still in the USAF I owned a 1967 Pontiac Le Mans that had the standard AM radio with one dash speaker and two rear deck speakers. The Base Exchange got some car AM/FM/FM Stereo units in stock and I picked one up. It came with several trim plates so installation was fairly straight forward and looked great installed. FM stereo in cars was still relatively new back then, so I was anxious to hear what difference it would make. I decided to make the front speaker the left and the rears the right which worked quite well. My 'moment' came with the first FM stereo rock station I tuned in that illuminated the red 'Stereo' indicator on the dial. Glorious stereo music filled the interior and I was blown away with how great it sounded. I went on to include an 8 track player into the system and to this day I still have fond memories of that car and the many road trips I made with it while listening to my favorite tunes. 

 BTW, here is an interesting timeline concerning automotive sound systems.

 

you youngster,

The 1st time I played an 8 track in the car!!!!!!!!!!

8 track was a revolution, the 1st time our music was so easily transported, listened to so easily anywhere, like you say, blasting down the highway!

The player's heads got misaligned, the tape's broke, stretched, 

they were actually to be used for advertising at radio stations, just enough tape inside for that ad campaign (thus lighter, easier to move the tape), use until that ad campaign was over, in the trash can!

cassettes were for dictation, not music, single track, each way, then 2 track forward, then 4 track. It was improvements in the physical parts, cassette innards, player's innards, tape formulations, dolby ... that made them successful for music, of course the same portability as 8 tracks, but far more reliable and very easy to made duplicates or mix your own tracks.

That is when Programmable Turntables were introduced, scan the lp, find the blank spots between the tracks, you pick the tracks, in the order you want, record only those on your cassette.

Pre-8 Track days, I had a brand new '65 Comet Cyclone in which I installed an RCA car record player I ordered from a J C Whitney catalog. I added a pair of 6x9's on the rear shelf. The unit played a stack of 45's with an upside down tonearm, jukebox style, that skipped every time I hit a bump or divot in the road. But it beat the heck out of AM radio and I could choose my own music. I was cool before cool was cool, or thought I was.

Circa 1990.  La Villa Strangiato (Rush). 1988 VW Fox.  Nakamichi-recorded metal tape cassette.  Nakamichi mobile cassette deck in car.  Amplifier and speakers surprisingly forgotten.  I seem to recall the amplifier was in the glove compartment.

Odd, because systems before and since are more remembered in their specifics, but for some reason that song in that car on that system sticks in my memory.

Memory is a strange thing indeed.