Need iPod Solution for 80s Sports Car

[jdpinsf]

I have a 1987 Lotus Esprit. It has a standard DIN radio-cassette in it now. I want to keep a casette deck in there, just to keep the original look. But I also want to use my iPod (or some other mp3 player, if it makes a difference).

Obviously, I can do one of those "fake-casette" things, but then I have the ugly wire snaking out of the front of the stereo, and no control of the ipod through the stereo itself.

Does anyone know of an 80s or early-90s stereo that can be modified, or some other solution?

One idea I had was to get the Griffin "Smart Deck" and have it permanently in the stereo with the wire snaking out the back and ending up somewhere unobtrusive, like the glove box. That would allow me to at least skip songs. But then I have the problem if I want to listen to the radio.

There are "vintage-look" stereos out there which are made to work with ipods, but they look more 60s.

The key here is to still have a cassette, look 80s, but have mp3.

Click to read more...

 

[JUHL 10+ year member]

FM transmitter?

 

[jdpinsf]

Do you mean wireless? I tried it and the problem is there are so many stations where I live it's impossible to find a "clean" frequency and the sound is terrible. And, of course, I still am trying to control with the iPod which is then bouncing around the car (which has a very small interior, nowhere to put the thing, etc.)

 

[JUHL 10+ year member]

just upgrade your cd player man, its the easiest way to go about that.... use an AUX cable, or an actual ipod interface. just pick a deck that looks clean and will fit in smoothly

 

[jdpinsf]

You say CD player - but this car is 1987 and I need all original period. I don't think there was an in-dash CD unit back then, was there?

If you're saying there is a 1987-era deck that will interface with an ipod, great - what do I need to look for?

Thanks

 

[andrewmoore13 10+ year member]

why does it have to be all original?

 

[jdc753 10+ year member]

As far as I know there is no way of keeping the cassette deck and use the iPod. I believe cd's came out to the consumer sometime around 94 or so, most certainly not going to be a 1987 era deck (specially a Lotus original factory equiped) cd deck. I'm guessing you want to keep it original for car shows and what not, about all I can think of would be to hide a cd player in the glove box or some other nook inside the car and hook the ipod up through that. Or maybe one of the new OEM integration boxes like the Rockford Fosgate 3sixty would allow you to hook up the ipod, might have trouble controlling it though.

 

[jdpinsf]

Fair question. Answer: that's just me. The car is show quality, and I may or may not show the car, but still like that whole idea, that is, to keep it looking all original.

 

[dustinr 10+ year member]

can u post some pics of where your cassette player is and of the car thanks

 

[jdawg 5,000+ posts]

you can get a fm modulater that plug right into the back of the radio where the antenna would plig into

 

[jdpinsf]

FM Modulator - I've heard of that, but I'm not sure I understand what it does. Does it still have to utilize an FM frequency? And if so, how is the quality? Also, I guess then I wouldn't have any control through the deck, right?

 

[mrbomb 10+ year member]

you would not be able to have control through the deck with the fm transmitter

 

[dvrmstrng 5,000+ posts]

just use the fake cassette and get over the cord....how do you expect to control an ipod from an 80's head unit

 

[Hintzyboy 5,000+ posts]

If you are interested in upgrading the rest of the stuff, you could look into a Rockford 360 unit. They have an AUX in, so you can just use a 3.5mm-to-RCA cable to hook up the iPod.

Nice ride by the way.

 

[arizona 10+ year member]

I think you answered your own question.... the only way to keep it looking stock is to use the fake tape. You can always take the tape out at shows...