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Strange Console 8 Track Stereo

Does anyone know about these, was it custom made or is a dealer counter display?

  • what is this?

    Votes: 1 50.0%

  • who made this?

    Votes: 1 50.0%
  • Total voters
    2
T

tom jones

New Member
I found this radio at an estate sale, I was going to take out the audio componets but I thought it might be worth more if it is a custom made Chevy dealer counter display, the estate I got this from was from a man who designed the Corvette and or the Corvair for GM, thay had a large estate sale, also had old presadent of GM's desk in his house, so that made me think, this cabnet contains a Chevy car radio & a Delco Remy amplifer, dosn't look like someone made this at home looks professiona
lly built, but built like a prototype has no name tags or model number, anyone have any clues,
 
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where are the pics I posted with this message, whats this thing about votes, newby to this sight need help please!!!
 
Pics, of course, will help. Be aware that many consoles were custom-built by the dealer to a customer's specifications. That is, the customer would select speaker cabinets, raw speakers, turntable, receiver/amps, etc individually. The dealer would then assemble it all and deliver it to the customer as a unit.

This began to die off in the late 60s but prior to that, it was quite popular for well-heeled professionals. This likely explains what you have.

Good luck with the pics.

Cheers,

David
 
I had a neighbor who had one of those back in the '70s. It was probably made in the '60s. It's not unusual Tom. :D
 
I think is's a little unusual to put car radio marked with Chevotet emblem in a radio cabnet built for the home or office, havent find another on the net but having no brand or model # (I don't think it ever did), makes it hard to research, heres a close up on the componets, I opened the box I thought was a amp is just a power supply built with DELCO GM power transistors, the 8 track is 1968 Delco underdash.
 

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tom jones said:
I think is's a little unusual to put car radio marked with Chevotet emblem in a radio cabnet built for the home or office, havent find another on the net but having no brand or model # (I don't think it ever did), makes it hard to research, heres a close up on the componets, I opened the box I thought was a amp is just a power supply built with DELCO GM power transistors, the 8 track is 1968 Delco underdash.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry Tom. I'm guessing that you are too young to remember the singer named Tom Jones. He sang a song that went something like this, "It's not unusual to be loved by anyone...." I know, bad joke. Anyway, there was no brand or model number on my neighbor's unit. No Chevy logo either, otherwise I would have expected to find a 350 with 11:1 compression inside. She played it until the 8-track player fell apart. Then it went into the trash.
 
Yep, repurposed auto tape unit. I'm certain that a high-end audio dealer was not involved in that one! But some enterprising soul certainly was.

Good on 'em.

Cheers,

David
 
That player is sure wasted on those little speakers. The GM tape players had a real good sound with 6 x 9s in the rear package tray. Does it work? Might need a belt and some TLC. That could be worth some serious money for the classic car guys. Might be a version that was an option for a mid 60s Chevelle. Neat find!

That power supply is an odd looking deal too. Vintage looking Delco components with a torr. transformer. Took some knowledge to rig up that deal I suspect.
 
IMG_0052.JPG IMG_0052.JPG IMG_0053.JPG IMG_0052.JPG IMG_0053.JPG IMG_0055.JPG IMG_0059.JPG IMG_0060.JPG Tom, I noticed that too mostly GM products, if someone built this at home, thay must have had a quite a cabent shop at home
or worked at a cabnet shop, & vary good electrical knowledge, the wooden part sitting on the top edge once was screwed to the top of the hinged lid, it has a curved radius and made with precision out of solid wood, the latch is stainless and the lid has notched out recess for the lever so youi can depress it from the outside when lid is closed, looks like you coud raise the lid to 3 different heights maby for sound effect?, otherwise I don't why it had a piano hinged top, this cabnit is made so well I wonder if it could this have been something else maby a ciigar humidor or someone else made into a radio cabnet, it was done a while back the wiring is old and petrified & crumbled when I remove the power supply terminals, I think 8 track was big at that time, the wooden box for right speaker is missing & one of the ball feet, cabnet is of made of solid wood & venered plywood, I haven't tryed to power it up yet, but that is one big capacitor in the power supply..
 
sorry, ment to say the curved piece was screwed to the bottom of the hinged lid, like a louver or baffle that slides inside the cabnet as the lid is lowered, not sure what it was for.
 
The estate sale I bought this at was for Dolly Cole the wife of Ed Cole who worked for General Motors for 44 years, and was president of GM 1967-74 when he retired in 1974, it was in a warehouse on the property with tons of other stuff accumulated by the family over the decades, his desk was in the main house marked with plaque THE PRESIDENT OF GENERAL MOTORS SAT HERE was not for sale, this may be a one of a kind stereo unless I can find others out there, I still think this unit was possibly made by GM as a gift for him to put in his his office at GM in 1967, maybe why the small size 24" x 14" x 11" high.
 
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