radio?

Hi Chas go to Dino 246?Home and go through the restoration blog. I think most of your 'what is correct' questions will be answered in great detail. This also includes detailed radio information on the Voxson 8 Track player that would be period correct to your car. Congratulations on the purchase and please share some photos with us.

Also BUY THE DINO COMPENDIUM from www.dino-book.com! It is wonderful and the most thorough resource on the subject.

 

Pretty rare (at least in the U.S.) to find a factory installed radio - although apparently Ferrari listed an Autovox as an option, and in Europe several had Voxson radios installed. Many Dinos came with factory installed radio antenna packages so that it would be easier for a dealer to install a radio. In the U.S. and Canada, dealers installed a wide variety of radios such as Becker Europas, various Blaupunkts, etc.

When I purchased my GTS it had a period Blaupunkt radio with a Blaupunkt 8-Track tape deck and a selection of 8-Track tapes including Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass - Whipped Cream, some Frank Sinatra and Tom Jones tapes, and some Black Sabbath and Grand Funk Railroad, and Cream tapes.

My GT has a period Becker Europa in it (a Europa II, I believe). Many of the earlier Europas needed a separate amplifier in a separate chassis, which can be a pain to mount under the dash. I would suggest getting a Europa made starting in late 1972 or early 1973 (I believe) that has an integrated amplifier section built in - not that any period radio is loud enough to be heard while driving a Dino. No one is going to complain very much whether the year of the radio exactly matches the year of the Dino because radios were often finally installed years after delivery.

Matthias Bartz's "Dino Compendium" has a nice description of the radio, speaker, and antenna options starting at page 305. If you haven't purchased a copy of his book yet, you should as soon as possible because his supplies are winding down.

 

The problem with the Voxson radios is that they use medium and long wave which was used in Europe but does not pick up AM/FM here in the US. Voxson was a factory option in the early 70's prior to the E series Dinos and the cars delivered to Canada for instance would have them and they would either be left in unused or immediately taken out and replaced with something locally because they would not pick up the radio stations in North America.

While not 100% original an excellent option is a classic Becker stereo. Becker offers perfect period correct looking radios with iPod connectivity for reasonable money. Unless you are totally out for every concours point this is a great way to go.

 

Call Becker Autosound in New Jersey...ask for Tom...just got a reconditioned Europa for my 330GTC from them...great service and a perfect radio.

ODK

 

Congrats on your new purchase. If you need an original Dino radio, I have two that I've kept aside...

 

That's the one the dealer installed in my 1971 Dino. Excellent choice. I was also fortunate to have a stamped warranty card for the radio when it was installed.

 

looks great!!!