Old Car Sounds

Comments

• ladyblue Member Posts: 326

  March 1999

  Sheesh, and we thought our 8-track players were cool. My girlfriend had a '63 LeMans convertible, red with white leather interior and a white top. We thought we were hot stuff cruising around while Born to Run, Bat Out of Hell and Piano Man pounded out for everyone to hear. If there was ever a car I wish I had bought, it was that one. She sold it to my future brother-in-law and he wrecked it.

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• carnut4 Member Posts: 574

  March 1999

  Oh Yeah, Oh Yeah...Now we're talkin' nostalgia here. I remember a high school buddy had a 64 Malibu with 327 4speed. He had one of the original Craig 4-tracks. The Beatles and the Beach Boys were two of the featured tapes. Another friend bought a brand new 65 GTO [for $2900.!] which had the Vibrasonic radio from the factory. Onthe option list it was called "reverberater" or something like that.We all used to cruise downtown San Jose, Ca. with all the windows down and that vibrasonic turned up. One of the favorite tunes to hear at the time was the Righteous Bros. "You've lost that lovin' feelin'".I also spent my first three years of highschool in the Southern Cal area. We'd cruise between the drive-in restaurants. [Hodies, Bob's Big Boy, Mel's, etc.] Those were the days....

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• ralph124c Member Posts: 36

  March 1999

  I remeber the "vibrasonic"!! It was an additon to the monaural tape/radio, which gave the impression of separation between fron and rear speakers.
  In essence it was a mechanical delay line, which gave a dealay of around 0.5 seconds between front and rear (and also introduced some horrible distortion). Of course, when you listened to rock music at high volume, it did'nt sound too bad...until you hit a bump-then the delay line would introduce all kinds of jarring noise! (Sor of like the theremin-like sounds on Beach Boy songs).

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• isellhondas Member Posts: 20,342

  March 1999

  My 1967 GTO had vibrasonic. It was called Reverb and there was a switch under the dash. My 65 Riviera had the same thing.
  
  Ford called it Studiosonic sound.
  
  They were made by Motorola.

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• badgerpaul Member Posts: 219

  March 1999

  We had a '68 Bonneville with the Reverb, it was advertised as a poor man's stereo. I remember getting a good laugh when someone was speaking on the radio, it sounded like you were in an echo chamber.

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• sebringjxi Member Posts: 140

  March 1999

  I had a '59 MGA with no radio, just exhaust sound for music (another story). But my dad had a '66 Comet that I hung a portable cassette player (mono)in and sat one of my phonograph speakers in the back seat! Listened to American Pie about a 1000 times in that thing! Everybody else had an 8-track, I was just ahead of my time (and technology!).

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• Mr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481

  March 1999

  Anybody remember 4-track tapes?
  
  I used to love those old tube radios, like in the 55 Chevy...it took a while to warm up and it would hum...a nice base-type sound...sometimes the "vibrator" in the radio would get screwy and you had to hit the radio to get it to work. Stricly AM band back then....FM was for weirdos and drug addicts who stayed up late in New York and listened to jazz...

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• isellhondas Member Posts: 20,342

  March 1999

  That first 4 track unit that I had was a Muntz.
  
  I had two of these ripped off. the insurance co. paid for the replacements.
  
  Five years later, the police called. My Muntz had shown up in a hock shop.
  
  They also made some combo 4 and 8 track units that didn't work very well. A company called Tenna made these.

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• carnut4 Member Posts: 574

  March 1999

  Last week we talked about those 4-track tapes. [Check those responses]. I remember Craig and Muntz as the first two brands I was aware of. I was still driving around in my 55Chev, with the original pushbutton AM radio. Remember how you set those push buttons to the stations you wanted? Compare that to the way you preset the modern electronic units. My 55 Pontiac [130,000 mi.] has one of those tube, pushbutton radios. It works fine and has pretty good sound, but that humming warm-up period is quite nostalgic-as is the flicker of the ammeter needle when I turn the radio on....

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• isellhondas Member Posts: 20,342

  March 1999

  Testing my memory.
  
  That radio of yours also has a black metal tube in it. It's an OZ4. They are usually the first one to go out.
  
  There was a company making transistorized vibrators that were a direct plug in.
  
  They last much longer and don't hum.

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• guitarzan Member Posts: 873

  June 1999

  Well, if there is one thing I know and that is reverb. Ralph mentioned when you hit a bump in the road, the thing made all kinds of noise. Must have been the old reverb springs bouncing around! Same thing happens, unfortunately, when playing my 1970's Fender amp, and I bump it accidentally.
  
  Funny how innovative people were back then! Yes, car stereos don't have it, but todays home stereos have simulated sounds, like "stadium, concert hall" etc. Same idea as that old reverb, only a clean, digital form.

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