Lancia Motor Club

I am looking for advice on car radios.

My car is a ’69, delivered in Jan 1970. Originally it did not have a factory fit radio, but soon after someone (a gorilla judging by the installation !) fitted a Voxson 8 track that is the correct vintage. I was intending to use this as I assume with Voxson being Italian, that they would have been the factory option. However it is un-repairable (the guts are rusted out). I am looking for a period after-market set and considering either another Voxson (but there are few for sale – I suspect because they are not that good) or a Becker (either Europa Stereo or Mexico). Most of the Becker units from around 1970 are DIN standard, but they seem to have an adaptor plate that gives the appearance of a DIN size set (and would require a DIN aperture in the dash). An advantage of these Becker units is that they have an aux:in so will take an MP3 adaptor with no modification (apparently ?)

Does anyone have any experience of these sets, and is the adaptor plate removable so that it would fit through a standard dash aperture?
Does any one have an OE radio in their Fulvia, if so what is it?

Neil

Hi Neil,

Several people would argue that it is difficult to have good radio reception in a Fulvia especially if driven fast. Noise suppression is a complex task. This was discussed in the Viva-Lancia web page at length in the past. In addition, fitting the speakers might mean painful surgery to the interior. On two of my Fulvias I have period radios (only MW in those days) which are now well over 35 y old: they work in a fashion, but in reality they are almost useless. :D
Best regards
Andrea

Hi Andrea,
I agree with the first two points ! but I was pretty successful in my last two fulvias to get a reasonable sound. I am not aiming for hi-fi perfection, just some recognisable sing-along noise will do (I do like my music )!! The car already had the door mount speakers in. I have a set of OE speaker covers, which I have put in the new door card I have made. I have thrown away the old door speakers and fitted new 2-way 4.5 inch speakers. I made up an adaptor plate for them, which fits in the existing speaker recess in the door frame, so no modifications at all were necessary. I have also used the original factory fit wiring for power. So now I just need a head unit that is period, will drive the speakes and has an aux:in capability. It has to look contempory and require no cutting or modification to the dash to install - hence the question about the supposed early DIN spec units.
Neil

To be honest with you, you need a radio with spindle controls to look right.
I have a couple salvaged from other cars and they are correct for the age &
have AM/FM as well as stereo cassette  (you can get a cassette that works
as an aux input with a mini stereo jack fitting).
PM if you wish and I'll give you a phone number.
regards
Geoff

Neil, I have a Blaupunkt Bremen in my 1966 Si which  is definitely a period radio .I think is an original  fitment although I cant be 100% certain, however it certainly looks the part.

Eyore,
Yes - thats the kind of look I need, and Geoff is of the same mind as me about the spindles etc.
Geoff,
Thanks for the offer - I have a line on a Becker Radio at the moment (should know at the weekend if it is on). If it isn't I will PM you if that is OK.
Thanks for the help gents.
Neil

Neil,

I too have looked at the Becker Mexico but was put off by the expense, in the end I dropped a spare radio I had in to the glovebox and left the original radio (which still works) in place in the dash.

During my investigation I did come across a chap who can possibly istall aux ports on to old radios. The unit I have in my car is a Radiomobile 1070, the guy I found can install to a Radiomobile 1085 and Motorola 114 which are both period units, his conversion costs £38.00 plus P&P.

The guy is called Alan (I have no surname) and he can b contacted on 01702 547753 evenings and weekends.

Hope this helps

Rhys

Slightly off the subject, but does anyone have an oval speaker for the centre of the silver panel below the crash pad, for series one Fulvia Berlina/ coupe? they wouldn't mind selling to me, I have 2 good period radios but I haven't been able to track down a speaker. TV ones have been suggested, but the fitting holes would need modifying.
The people who convert old radios by putting modern innards in them only do the radios, no one seems to do speakers.

Brian
8227

Brian,
try maplins they do a range of speakers & I'm fairly sure one of the sizes fits.

Rhys,
I am also put off by the cost of a decent Becker Mexico - they seem to hover around €400+. I have now found that there is a cross over Europa model that is stereo and also non-DIN so I am chasing down one of those (they also have a seperate amp). They seem to be a lot cheaper.
Brian
I had the same problem with my door speakers. For the correct size speaker the PCD was smaller for the fixings. I got round this by making up an flat adaptor plate out of aluminium that I put the speaker in with recessed fixings, then I could make the PCD of the adaptor plate the same as the speaker aparture in the door frame. Worked a treat.

Thank you for the information Gentlemen, I'll have a look at both suggestions.

Brian
8227 8)

Have you spoken with John Savage on the subject? He's a radio expert and has a lot of experience with Lancias. His address is in the 2000 Register of Members, even if his 'phone number isn't!
 Regards, John

Thanks for the tip, my father knows John very well so I will enquire.

Well, thanks for the advice and offers of help. I have got what (I hope !) I wanted. A pre-DIN series Becker Europa Stereo (one of the first stereo radios), separate amp and aux input built only in 1969/70 before moving to DIN standard - my car was delivered  Jan 31st 1970 to its first owner. Cost was a grand £25 - I am assured it works, we shall see  :P

If memory serves me right, the seven pin socket is for a cassette player.
( I could of course be wwwwwwwrrrrrrrrrong, sorry hard to admit )
Geoff

According to the experts on the web it can be used as an input for any signal, in fact Becker sell an adaptor lead with a jack plug (they have a very good back up for old radios). However I still remain to be convinced ! But I feel I have learnt a bit over the last couple of weeks so I shall let you know.

Well, the radio arrived and is in perfect condition. Bench tested it, works fine as does the aux input. The amplifier is a bit weedy (7W per channel) so I have got a 50W amp of EBay so as not to damage the speakers. To complete the installation I am awaiting a new Fulvia faceplate from Italy (EBay again). And a nice surprise was that contacting the customer service department at Becker Europe got a reply two days later with a full manual !

I managed to get hold of a pre-DIN Becker Europa Stereo and amp so that I did not have to cut the dash. It has all gone in very well to give a neat installation. I also contacted Becker who sent me the wiring diagram for the radio and amp from which I picked up the pin outs from the aux-in port to make up a lead for MP3 players etc. If anyone wants a copy I can e-mail it (too big to attach here).

All very straight forward, just take the left and right channels (four wires) and the screen and wire through a switched jack plug socket (to maintain the loop through circuit) and a 5-pin DIN plug. I used this one :  Maplin (http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=1196&criteria=stereo%20socket&doy=15m4)

Nice installation Neil, the radio looks period but with the modern and discreet MP3 capability.

Food for thought on my own installation.

Will all Fulvia doors take speakers mounted in the position you have mounted yours? (I have not had the door cards off yet)

Rhys

I think all Fulvia coupes had provision for speakers in the doors (the TAV shows the speaker cut out), as a radio was a factory option from the S1 onwards. My only problem was finding a speaker of a small enough diameter that would fit behind the original speaker grills - try finding anything under 500 watts and smaller than a dinner plate ! It didn't have the correct PCD so I made up an interface ring so as not to drill the doors.

The aux input with the Becker is quite forward thinking for 1969 - they modularised their in-car systems so you bought the head unit but could add cassete and 8 track players. So using this input means I can plug anything into it now and it plays through the amp and the speakers, MP3, Sat Nav, hands free phone etc with no modification to the stereo or the car and have it all hidden away. Quite chuffed with it really  :)

Well, obviously not all doors had cut outs !!
This is a photo fo an S1 coupe aluminium door for sale in Holland. So I guess some cars (probably the earlier ones) did not have door cut outs.
You live and learn  ::)

I found this very informative site on classic car radios. A couple of interesting Lancia ones in there (under FIAT) and alot of good information and a forum. It is a Belgium site and in French.

http://users.skynet.be/antique.autoradio/index.htm