What was the original radio in a 87' 328 GTS?

None installed at the factory, just a blanking plate.
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If you want to stay in period I'd look for a nce late-'80's vintage Alpine with a cassette player head unit and a CD changer for in the trunk.

If you don't care about period looks then get whatever meets your needs.

In 2 years I've turned on my radio twice, just to see if it still works. I've never driven the car with the radio on.

 

+1

Engine sounds too good, and the radio just sounds crappy.

 

Check with sponsor Ricambi America (sponsor link here) or Eurospares (www.eurospares.co.uk) - maybe T. Rutlands.

I never installed a radio and don't have a recommendation based on that. Given the small speakers and big engine right behind your head, I wouldn't put anything expensive in. I guess if you must you could go for something black with orange lettering to match the instruments. Becker makes a decent unit, and I believe you can set the display to be either green or amber -- the amber would go OK.

I certainly wouldn't bother with an old cassette tape player at this point.

 

I just put a stereo in mine. Up north, the engine was all the music I needed. But for commuting in the city, the music fills those long pauses at traffic lights.

I did my own install, because nobody else would want to put a cheap $70 discount store stereo in a Ferrari.

But the made in china VR3 has the advantage that it plays MP3s from an SD flash card. I can get the equivalent of about 20 CDs on a flash card the size of a postage stamp --- something that will actually fit in the "glove box" (console compartment). And, in a 328GTS, the sound quality difference between CD and MP3 isn't really significant.

And no moving parts when you go over potholes.

But my home computer is Linux, so I have the tools to make MP3s from my CDs, mount the SD card in the flash slots of my USB printer, and then write MP3s to the card like a normal disk.

The radio part is insane. I had no idea there was so many data sub-channels running over FM these days. And it has an option to let traffic alerts break in on the music.

With 100 watts in the head unit, no need for an external amp, and no need for an external changer. Stick a spare SD card in the glove box, and I've got about a week's worth of music.

 

But that's what would be "correct" for a stereo installed in 1987 or so.

All depends on the level of authenticity you seek.

 

Authentic = leave the blanking plate in place.

Anything else is up to you.

 

Home CD players became commonly available in '83. They may have been regularly seen or at least available in cars by 87 but I can't recall. On the other hand, my wife's old '87 MB 300SDL had cassette, not CD, but it may have been optional. Since I didn't buy a car between 1986 and 1999, I can't speak from first hand experience when CD became a common option.

 

The 1990 Acura NSX and Nissan Maxima came standard with a cassette player. Cassette was standard and CD was optional in my 1995 and 1998 Fords. My 2000 BMW 528i came standard with cassette, while my 2000 BMW 323Ci had a CD player as standard.

It amazes me how long the cassette player held on.

 

+1.

The cars only came with blanking plates, speakers, wiring and antenna.

Cassettes were more common back in 1987, but CD units were also coming onto the market. The original head unit in my 328 was an Alpine single CD player. None of the head units from back in the late 80s are going to sound good by todays standards.

My advice if you want a radio, put in whatever you like, just keep it simple. Even if you bring the car to a Councours event, you won't lose or gain any points for having a radio no matter whether its modern or from the 80's. Its only a problem if you do silly things like cutting up the interior for lots of aftermarket stereo modifications.

Best regards,
Dino

 

The standard and premium stereos for my '88 Celica AllTrac were cassette. There was an optional CD changer, according to the owner's manual, but mine didn't have that.

Leave the blanking panel and hook an iPod to your helmet intercom.

 

I think a good trim shop could make one quite easily. By the way my 1987 GTS had a Blaupunkt AM/FM/cassette which I believe was original. I replaced it with a CD player of the same brand when the left speakers started working intermittently. I still have it if you want the model number.

 

I thought someone on Fchat said Ricambi or one of the other sponsors had some blanking plates, so try checking with a few of the sponsors.

I happened to be looking through the old Car and Driver, May 1986 Road Test of the 328GTS and although we all know Ferrari did not supply radios at the factory, the test car was equipped with a Sony CDX-R7, which is an AM/FM stereo with a single CD player slot.

Best regards,
Dino