JIVE TALKIN'

[RICK YOUNG]

I think my 75 is posessed :eek:

Every time I get in it I start hearing The Bee Gee's Gen II.

It goes from NIGHT FEVER to .......... Donna Summer.

I think I'll get one of those Ball Room Glitter Balls and hang it from the rear view mirror. A stobe light and "Sky Search Light"

It's Stayin' Allllliiiiiivvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeee!

[Guest fmbjogger]

75 were better days...and better music, for sure. I'm off to the drive-in to watch " Jaws"

[38Buick 80C]

some one with more computer skills could photo shop's Rick's head on to this photo

[LINC400]

At our Grand Invitational held in Detroit, everything was Motown/music themed. My car won for "Best Disco Era" It probably didn't hurt that I was blasting my K-Tel "Disco Dynamite" 8-track, and had an aqua 8-track carrying case loaded with more. (anybody have any idea how hard it is to find an aqua 8-track carrying case?)

[HurstGN]

Are you implying that an 8-track is not cool? Even though my 82 wasn't equipped with an 8-track (it was more upscale with cassette), I did acquire an original, unopened Buick 8-track from 1982. And, personally I think that tape is really cool. I would probably change my mind if i opened it and tried listening to the songs on it, but in the unopened state, it IS cool.

OK, so it is the unopened part that makes it cool...but it technically is a cool 8-track.:cool:

[LINC400]

I have about 200 8-track tapes, and play them. (ok, not all of them, who wants to hear Andy Griffith Sings?). Some have pretty good sound quality, some are not very good. And I can see why cassettes replaced them. Cutting off songs in the middle to switch tracks, spewing out tons of tape, etc. I also have 6 assorted "Ford Motor Company - Stereo for Today" tapes. The Boston Pops playing things like "Mandy" and disco remixes on them are quite amusing. I always thought it was tacky that whether you bought a Ford, Mercury, or paid The extra $$$ for a Lincoln, you still got a Ford tape. Really, they couldn't slap a Lincoln label on the tape?

I only have them because the car plays them. And I consider it part of its history. Otherwise there are people that collect them, but I wouldn't bother. The 8-track player and tapes frequently get comments when it is at a show. With my 8-track to cassette adapter, I can play cassettes as well.

[NTX5467]

In 1980, the company truck (gut-loaded Silverado in "Cowboys" colors--blue and silver) I had was ordered with an 8-track stereo in it. I thought . . . "8 Track???", but I went to a Half-Price Books, Records, and Tape store and found some vintage 8 tracks for $1.00 each. There was a "Cruisin' 1962" tape in the mix, so I got it. Lots of neat radio ads (including some famous Dallas radio station ones!), plus the more popular songs of 1962. I was AMAZED at the richness of the sound quality, compared to normal cassettes of that time. I went back to find a few more!

I know that 8 track tapes did have some problems, but they did sound better. Tape speed was 3.75 inches/second where the smaller cassettes ran at 1/2 that speed. Cassettes were a better package, though, and did get better as tape and tape drive technologies improved.

Enjoy!

NTX5467

[Thriller]

8 tracks used to be plentiful and cheap at the swap meets probably 5 or so years ago. Now they are approaching hen's teeth, but I did get some this spring...the deck in the Electra initially worked, but then stopped - I don't know if the tape in it died or if it is the deck itself...sigh. Now the 8 tracks sit in fear that the deck will ruin them all, assuming they are functional tapes. I thought I had my mother's collection...2/3 of which was Abba...but I can't locate it.

[RICK YOUNG]

The 75 came with a "Best of Hank Williams" in the Glove Box and optional match book to fine tune the tape placement.

[LINC400]

Ford first offered 8 track players in 1966 I believe. Cassettes were around in the 1970's, and Ford even offered a cassette player as an option in the mid-1970's. But my understanding is the sound quality of the cassettes was not as good. This is why 8-tracks still dominated, at least in Ford products. In 1979, they offered an all-new very nice digital 8-track player. Suddenly in 1980, you didn't see them much anymore. I think 8-tracks were last offered in 1982, as cassette tape quality had drastically improved by then. A few leftovers might have made their way into 1983's.

In 1985, I bought my 1979 Mercury Cougar with 8-track player. The 8-track was considered hopelessly dated by then. I bought an 8-track to cassette converter so that I could play tapes. In 1988 CD's started appearing. It amazes me how fast 8-tracks became dated and unavailable after being used for so many years. Unlike when CD's showed up, and you could still get radios with both CD and cassette.

I can still find 8-tracks without too much difficulty at resale shops. Actually the tackier the place, the more likely they are to have 8-tracks no one wants. I can still get them for 25 cents. The problem is finding ones you actually want to listen to. There was a guy at Iola that sold and repaired the tapes. He had an amazingly huge collection and everything was organized by type of music and then alphabetically by artist. He charged $1.00 apiece, which was a little higher than the 25 cents I usually spent at the time (doesn't sound like much, but buy 10 or 15 tapes, and the price difference adds up really fast). But you could find really good tapes there as opposed to the undesireable stuff found elsewhere. I went back the next year with stuff for him to fix, and a list of 8-tracks to look for. But he never showed up again. He complained that he thought that people would be wanting them for their original radios for '60's and '70's cars (especially muscle cars), but apparently no one did (I assume most muscle car owners don't care about original radios).

If you don't know if it is your radio or tape that doesn't work, I would recommend picking up some bad tapes you don't want to listen to just to see if it will play them. If it eats them, no loss. Much cheaper than paying someone to test it. Plus some tapes are just worn out and no good anymore. I can play them regularly in my car, but can buy one, and have it snap or shoot out the first time I try to play it. Plus I think they wear out as far as sound quality as well. Some I have sound great, some are terrible.

As far as getting an 8-track player repaired, good luck. Places will fix 1940's or 1950's car radios with no problem. You mention you want your 8-track player repaired, and they think it's a joke. I found a few places willing to do it, but the price is quite high, and you have to pay for shipping there and back, and the radios are quite heavy. I've had better luck just buying another unit off Ebay that is guaranteed to work.

As I've said, I think it is an interesting part of the car's history, and with my adapter, I can listen to AM/FM/8-track/ or Cassette. And my home stereo will record from CD to cassette. So I see no reason to remove it for a more modern radio. People that make comments about my car not being that old tend to rethink that when they see the 8-tracks, and think about how long it has been since they last saw or played them.

Edited October 22, 2010 by LINC400 (see edit history)