RE: PH blog: crazy radios

RE: PH blog: crazy radios

Tuesday 16th October 2012

PH blog: crazy radios

Ergonomics be damned, Harris has been musing on the daftest positions ever chosen for car radios



For reasons I don’t need to explain, I was looking at mid-engined Renault 5 Turbos the other day, and my eyes were drawn to a shot of the car’s cabin. And one specific aspect of that little cocoon of Bakelite and velour: the hi-fi.

Having already outed my slight obsession with original DIN-sized car entertainment electronics, you will not be surprised to learn that I glean an abnormal level of titillation from the positioning of these units. In the original Renault 5, the unit was effectively dropped vertically into a section of the centre console. It looks like a complete afterthought.

Citroen: fabulous style, awful ergonomics
Citroen: fabulous style, awful ergonomics
But wireless placement in cars always was a bit of an afterthought, perhaps because cars were so noisy and the radios so shoddy that people didn’t really bother with them? Or maybe conversation was just better before the 1980s?

And so to the point of this randomness; weird radio positions in motor cars.

My opening gambit is hard to beat: the De Tomaso Pantera. Evidently the pen that envisaged this cosy cockpit wasn’t aware of the need for in-car entertainment, so it found a vertical slither of space and mounted the radio on its side. It looks fabulous. With an analogue display, this is just about usable, take something digital and it must be interesting.

Of course I want to open this up to the floor immediately, and make sure that we don’t just celebrate the plain loopy stuff like the Pantera. The Alfa 75 had a radio so well hidden behind the gear lever that finding Radio 4 was like coaxing a tortoise from its shell.

You might be spotting a theme in nationality here –  and to confirm that, just wait till you see the Series 1 Lambo Espada – but of course Porsche thought the best place for a radio in a 911 was in front of the passenger’s left knee. So the Italians do not have a monopoly.

Like most of you, I used to sprain my back in my old Mini trying to reach a radio that was of more use for heating my front passenger’s shins than being reached by the driver.

My personal favourite though is the Citroen GS. Subscribing to the same 90-degree rotation as the Pantera and, now we come to mention it, the Daytona, but nestled just under the driver’s armpit for maximum inconvenience.

Now, collective masses of PH, I implore you to find even sillier radio positions in car cabins.

Chris


The rogues gallery of weird radio positions...

Alfa 75
Alfa 75
Ferrari Daytona
Ferrari Daytona
Lamborghini Espada
Lamborghini Espada
Mini
Mini
De Tomaso Pantera
De Tomaso Pantera
Porsche 911
Porsche 911
Author
Discussion

AC43

Original Poster:

11,433 posts

207 months

Tuesday 16th October 2012
quotequote all
Alfa Guilietta. You could only eject a cassette in 2nd, 4th or reverse.

SprintSpeciale

432 posts

144 months

Tuesday 16th October 2012
quotequote all
Never mind the radio, look at the position of those pedals in the Alfa! You'd need a left knee with a 45 degree angle to drive that.

Crusoe

4,068 posts

230 months

Tuesday 16th October 2012
quotequote all
Lotus Turbo Esprit with it mounted in the head lining

Numeric

1,393 posts

150 months

Tuesday 16th October 2012
quotequote all
I think we should get a prize for finding them in the pictures - thought the 75 was a trick question for a while and didn't have one! :-)

Of course we also forget these were the days when the Radio was often an option even on upper level vehicles and so a lot of cars simply didn't have them.

Might explain my fights with my sister!!

80quattro

1,724 posts

194 months

Tuesday 16th October 2012
quotequote all
Citroen CX.
Same position as the R5 Turbo. Wrist bent at almost 90 degrees to adjust volume.

rijmij99

423 posts

160 months

Tuesday 16th October 2012
quotequote all
the 75 is amazing you can simultaneously change station and go into 3rd. as for the pedal position they were an acquired tasted but heel and toe was very easy

timb551

20 posts

238 months

Tuesday 16th October 2012
quotequote all
My mates old Noble M12 GTO-3R was down the same sort of track as these.

Noble included a remote for it as they must have worked out the driver had no chance in changing the volume let alone the station if he was driving on his own.


davidgt4

239 posts

245 months

Tuesday 16th October 2012
quotequote all


Continuing with Italian eccentricity the 308GT4's radio was perfectly positioned for the passenger's shin... not that you really need a radio with 4 gulping Webers behind your ear and a fruity exhaust!

Crusoe

4,068 posts

230 months

Tuesday 16th October 2012
quotequote all

zabba

2,118 posts

214 months

Tuesday 16th October 2012
quotequote all
who wants to listen to a radio in a Ferrari Daytona when you have that engine?

Daniel1

2,931 posts

197 months

Tuesday 16th October 2012
quotequote all
The elise / exige sprung to my mind


mrclav

1,280 posts

222 months

Tuesday 16th October 2012
quotequote all
Articles like this make me realise why I prefer most modern metal to the "classics" as a daily driver proposition. Good ergonomic/haptic design means one doesn't actually have to think as everything comes naturally to hand/foot - as someone already pointed out, the pedal line-up in the that Alfa would be annoying on a long journey...

fushion julz

614 posts

172 months

Tuesday 16th October 2012
quotequote all
I used to have an Alfa 75 (a 2 litre Twin-Spark)...

The stereo had to be chosen carefully...You needed a unit with the display at the bottom of the unit...If it was at the top you wouldn't be able to see the station or any of the info displayed at all!

I owned the car when it was fairly new...The original unit was a cassette/radio and the cassettes did (just about) come out in any gear. However, when I changed to a cd/radio headunit the CDs were impossible to change if the car was in 1st, 3rd or 5th...which led to me getting a CD changer instead.

Best position I've encountered for a stereo in a car is a Mk2 Golf...Exactly the right height and position for ease of use and safe reading of the display.

Prawnboy

1,326 posts

146 months

Tuesday 16th October 2012
quotequote all
as a kid in the eighties i was most exited by car stereos that were as big as your house stereo. I recall people uses to add after market 20 band grafic equalizers, and a car with built in graphic equalizers was, (to me) the height of cool.

ziggy1024

38 posts

210 months

Tuesday 16th October 2012
quotequote all
I'm sure one of those 'dream cars' type books I had about 20 years ago had something with the stereo in the t-bar of a targa 928...

fushion julz

614 posts

172 months

Tuesday 16th October 2012
quotequote all
zabba said:
who wants to listen to a radio in a Ferrari Daytona when you have that engine?
exactly!

ziggy1024

38 posts

210 months

Tuesday 16th October 2012
quotequote all
And google reveals the Buchmann 928 Targa!
http://www.1000sel.com/index.php?option=com_conten...





Edited by ziggy1024 on Tuesday 16th October 10:35

Morningside

24,110 posts

228 months

Tuesday 16th October 2012
quotequote all
"Like most of you, I used to sprain my back in my old Mini trying to reach a radio that was of more use for heating my front passenger’s shins than being reached by the driver."
Oh yes

This reminds me of a story many years ago when CBs were at there height. He put the CB on the dash of the Mini and someone broke in a stole it. HA! He thought and then put a metal plate underneath and spot welded the nuts in place. So they broke in again and just cut round the radio mounts leaving a gaping hole on the dash.

fushion julz

614 posts

172 months

Tuesday 16th October 2012
quotequote all
mrclav said:
Articles like this make me realise why I prefer most modern metal to the "classics" as a daily driver proposition. Good ergonomic/haptic design means one doesn't actually have to think as everything comes naturally to hand/foot - as someone already pointed out, the pedal line-up in the that Alfa would be annoying on a long journey...
I never drove a LHD one, but in RHD the pedal position wasn't much of an issue...It wasn't much different from the Giuletta or Alfetta (on which the 75 was based/derived) and never caused me any problems, even on long journeys.

365daytonafan

283 posts

184 months

Tuesday 16th October 2012
quotequote all
Oddly Ferrari Daytona's radio is better positioned for RHD cars than LHD as pictured in the article. Never turned the one on in mine anyway.

Late model Ferrari 512 Boxers had a very eighties graphic equalizer mounted on the opposite side of the steering column to the radio so that only the driver could adjust it.