You might get a little warping of the sound, easily signifying where you mistakenly left it last. So better watch out if you leave the tape in the player too long or your car heats up in the summer sun while the tape is stuck in its resting place in the player. The other misery of the 8-track was that it didn’t hold up well to heat. It was not uncommon for 8-tracks to separate on a time limit, and the work around was the fade-out, fade-in, which even back in the ‘70s would elicit a few groans or head shakes. Then, all of a sudden, there’s a click, and the song fades back in and makes it to its completion. Imagine if you will listening to your favorite song and it just fades out in the middle of the track. Kids today, you don’t know how good you’ve got it. Launching in 1965, the 8-track soon became a must have, with most every new model of Ford offering 8-track players by the following year. Ampex and RCA Victor showed interest, as did automotive giants such as Motorola, Ford and GM. It was initially sold to the radio market, allowing for recordings at “broadcast speed.” By 1962, Earl “Madman” Muntz and George “Fidelipac” Eash began working on what they called a Stereo-Pak system, a four-track cartridge that could play in cars.Įventually William “Bill” Lear, a former used car salesman, saw a way in which he could improve upon the Stereo-Pak, eventually expanding it to a “Stereo 8” eight-track cartridge, which could provide up to 90 minutes of content. And we all know that cars do hit a few bumps in the road.įidelipac Cartridge then came to the table with what they referred to as “the cart.” It used an analogue magnetic tape format that was based on an endless loop system. The first significant ways in which we transmitted music were via vinyl players and eventually sending out songs over the radio airwaves and this was the standard for a long time, but as the vehicle industry continued to boom in the early 20th century, the question of how to translate the music experience to cars became the big question.Īccording to ARS Technica, Peter Goldmark’s Highway Hi-Fi was one of the initial attempts, but as anyone who has walked with a heavy foot near a turntable can tell you, a vinyl record option in a car was subject to skipping. The Stereo 8, or 8-track, eventually became the first primary music player used in automobiles in the ‘60s and it grew in popularity into the early and mid-‘70s.
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