Radios In A GT40 ??

[JimmyMac]

We briefly discussed '8-track' last week but has anybody ever fitted a period radio ?

[Jack Houpe]

Jimmy where did the road cars put the radios? Did they have them? I use to repair 8 tract units, the radio 8 tract combo's are monster in size. I think they would match the weight of your motor. I even worked on some 4 tract units, bet only a few people can remember them.

[JimmyMac]

Jack,
I doubt if anybody bothered with radios but there is a mention of them in this article so I wondered.

http://www.metaphorsinmotion.com/posts/12-Ford-GT-40

There was one car in the UK which was remodelled for a BBC disc jockey so I suspect this car had one put in then.

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

Originally Posted by P2164

Jimmy where did the road cars put the radios? Did they have them? I use to repair 8 tract units, the radio 8 tract combo's are monster in size. I think they would match the weight of your motor. I even worked on some 4 tract units, bet only a few people can remember them.

Ah, the old "Madman Muntz" four-tracks!!! I remember the slogan they used.."You get More with Four!!"

[Randy V]

Originally Posted by Mark IV

Ah, the old "Madman Muntz" four-tracks!!! I remember the slogan they used.."You get More with Four!!"

Yup - 4 tracks looked a lot like the 8 tracks but had a large flip-up drive wheel that went into the cartridge from the player.. Actually - I thought the 4 track units sounded better too..

Never seen anyone fit a radio in one of these cars.. I think the engine will make all the music I'm really interested in..

[Victors]

How about something like this, James?

YouTube - RCA AUTOMATIC 45 RPM CAR RECORD PLAYER MODEL AP-1 1961 DESOTO

You might need a softer suspension though to make it work! But they did probably fit something like this on the DJ´s car

I read somewhere that Von Karajan´s MK III (or maybe MK I, not sure) was customized with a TV set and a cassette player. I am not at home now and can not double check the info but if my memory serves me right he had those fitted on his car .
Cheers!
JP

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

Actually, the "Eton Motors" car that went to France had the Sony micro TV along with air horns....

[JimmyMac]

P1044 & P1071 were delivered with Motorola radios fitted.
P1072 was also delivered with a factory fitted Radiomobile radio (the 1960's Radiomobile set in my photo is only 50mm deep)

[Chuck]

As I recall, the Mark III located the radio in the driver's door.

[Dalton Veitch]

Where does the radio aerial get mounted?

[Paul W]

Before my time all these - wouldn't one of these be the norm ???

[Chuck]

Originally Posted by Dalton

Where does the radio aerial get mounted?

On #1013 an arial appears on the spider just above the windshield, dead center. Searching for a picture of the door mounted radio, but have not found it yet.

[Mike Drew]

A radio? In a GT40???

[Phil]

A friend of mine fit a reasonably cheap AM-FM radio under his dash, set the tuner to one frequency, and he has his small XM satellite receiver on the dash. No problem with the antenna, it can go under the body as long as it isn't shrouded by anything metal.
Of course using the radio for anything else means squirming under the dash, but he seems to enjoy it the way its set up.
Cheers
Phil

[David Morton]

A slight digression and harping back to eight tracks, back in '78 I was taxying out at Manchester Ringway in a small twinjet en route to Lyon and Malta. At the holding point I tidied up the office, stowed things such as my pack of cigarettes /zippo and sunglasses, poured myself a coffee for the climbout, (No hosties on this aeroplane - just me) closed any thing that could be closed and took a moment to listen to the aeroplane (they all have their own little noises) and one noise
that horrified me was rythmic ssssshhhhhhuuuuhhhhhhttt click clunk about every 1.5 seconds so I cancelled my IFR (Airways) clearance and returned to the ramp and called Northern Exec on the other box to meet me on stand. Their avionics man came out and called me on a vhf portable to keep the engines running so he could hear what I was talking about. He looked around the Electrical distribution area, behind the seats and eventually got to the panels and hatches I had previously secured and closed.
He opened one which I thought was a map/jeppeson stowage and the noise instantly stopped. When I was tidying up and closed the doors and hatches there was an eight track installed in the stowage and the noise was the tape pushed in hard in the player.
Oeuf dans Vis..........
I still made my arrival time in Malta but used loads and loads more fuel to acheive it.
Right, back to radios......

[JimmyMac]

Here is a shot of the little radio and chrome speaker assembly in the door of an original car

[Jack Houpe]

David that is hilarious story, I have some similar, every good pilot has to listen feel every aspect of the plane and its mechanicals, I think thats one of the reasons why I don't fly anymore I am just to nervous.

James, in the article it mentioned how the GT40 exhaust was made to make the interior quite so you listen to a radio or have a pleasant conversation. After I finished my car and started driving it I have to use ear plugs and hand signs. Can't imagine back then a GT40 being quite on the interior enough to hear a radio. One thing I did like is the borano wire wheels. I still think they are sexy looking on the MK1.

[JimmyMac]

Jack,
Those road going MKIII exhausts with branched headers do look pretty tame compared to the usual cross-overs.

[Jack Houpe]

Your right, I didn't pay attention, thats why I'm a flunky.

[JimmyMac]

I wonder how loud a road car is in reality with a set of those exhausts and all that carpet in the cockpit.
Maybe somebody on here has a similar set-up with a de-tuned engine and can advise ?