Albums Go Mobile With 8-Track Players In Cars

1965

Ford offers factory-installed 8-track tape players in its Mustang, Thunderbird and Lincoln models. This marks the first time 8-track players are widely available, so you can only get the tapes in auto parts stores or Ford dealers. The players have a tendency to chew up the tapes, leading to 8-track roadkill as drivers throw the tangled tapes out their windows.

This is the first time 8-track players are widely available, so the tapes are sold not at record stores, but in auto parts stores or Ford dealerships. To this point, the only listening option in cars is radio, since putting a record player in a car would be a bit awkward (and skip), and the cassette format isn't ready for prime time. This means that for the first time, drivers can choose the music they listen to in the car. Before 8-track, there was 4-track, and some of those players were custom installed - Frank Sinatra had one. It was while driving in such a 4-track equipped car that Lear Jet maker Bill Lear got the idea to improve the technology and create the 8-track. The 8-track automobile revolution spills out of cars and into living rooms, making it a popular listening choice and a threat to vinyl, since it takes up less room and songs can be selected with the press of a button instead of the drop of a needle. But there are some serious flaws, most glaringly the tendency of the players to chew up the tapes, leading to piles of tangled tapes on American roadsides as drivers hurl them out their windows in frustration. And also, they only hold, er, eight tracks, so there's a good chance you'll be missing a song or two. The rise of the compact cassette dooms the 8-track to obscurity in the '80s. And unlike vinyl, there's little nostalgia for the format, since listeners don't appreciate tape hiss like they do pops and crackles. But beauty is in the ear of the beholder, and those with fond memories of the format can find 8-track players and tapes on eBay or head to the 8 Track Shack.