Old School Clarion Rack Car System - 1980's

[alydon]

I WANT ONE. The stereo and the car....

Who did the install? Beautiful job.

I have the original work order docs from AMG back in July 1984 when the car was converted. Originally bought in Monaco by a wealthy gentleman who bought the car for his son who lived in Miami Beach. The son had the car for 2 years and sold it to a real estate guy. I bought the car in Oct 2009 from the real estate guy's son who had the car in Chicago.

Cosmetically (paint and interior), car was a 9.5/10 when I bought it. Did a 95% mechanical restoration on the car from Nov 2009 to Oct 2010 - just over $35k invested (plus what I paid for the car). Not cheap, but very rare and in spectacular condition.

Clarion stereo system and speaker system was installed by AMG - see attached original work order.

Thanks for all the good comments.

Al

 

[El Pee]

Sweet car!

 

[cabinover]

I seem to recall Mazda RX-7s with a system very similar. About '84 maybe?

 

[daviddeep]

I seem to recall Mazda RX-7s with a system very similar. About '84 maybe?

Clarion was an OEM supplier to Mazda throughout the 80s, but I don't think the systems in RX-7s were anywhere near as high-end as the one in the OP's AMG Mercedes. A few models did have equalizers that were separate from the head units, but that was about as elaborate as they got. I believe they were styled to look as if the AM/FM section was separate from the cassette deck, but they really weren't. You would have seen these in the '84-85 GSL and GSL-SE and were available as options on lower level models. Separate equalizers and CD players were available on certain second generation models too. I was never very impressed with the factory systems in any of the RX-7s I've owned or been in.

Here's a photo from the 1984 RX-7 brochure:

 

[Sleep]

That car has the kind of subtle badass look I can appreciate - awesome.

 

[brutal]

Very, very cool system and car. Friend has a 98 SL500, the one with the better engine before they "Removed eight valves and two camshafts and 13 horsepower from the V8 engine." Not a big fan of the stretched tire look in that one photo. Those still on the car?

 

[DanCheet]

Sooo COOL

 

[alydon]

Very, very cool system and car. Friend has a 98 SL500, the one with the better engine before they "Removed eight valves and two camshafts and 13 horsepower from the V8 engine." Not a big fan of the stretched tire look in that one photo. Those still on the car?

The pic shows the 9" rear wheels and the spec tire is 245/45/16. I tried a 245/50/16 but it was too big for the fender (even with a rolled fender lip).

Al

 

[AnalogDigit]

Nice stereo.

 

[WhiteSE]

thats my favourite generation of MB!

 

[dadpants]

Cool setup!

 

[Livin4]

Maybe someone on this board can help from a service standpoint. My tape player is not working properly - when a tape is inserted, the play continuously switches from forward play to reverse play.

I haven't worked on that system, or for that mater any car cassette player in a long time, but I seem to remember that some of the mechanisms "monitor" the rotation on the supply/take-up to determine if it is at the end of the tape. I would check the belt(s) as that was the most common failure.

 

[teal'c]

I haven't worked on that system, or for that mater any car cassette player in a long time, but I seem to remember that some of the mechanisms "monitor" the rotation on the supply/take-up to determine if it is at the end of the tape. I would check the belt(s) as that was the most common failure.

alydon was last seen:
Nov 30, 2011

 

[Livin4]

alydon was last seen:
Nov 30, 2011

That's what I get for not looking at dates But it might help someone else.