Help me identify this radio?

[Wayne 962]

I'm not a radio expert?



-Wayne

[jtratza]

Looks kinda old. Where's the CD go in?

[widebody911]

Looks like a Sapphire XIV Town and Country

[rrpjr]

Looks like a cheap, aftermarket Japanese or JC Whitney replacement for a missing Blaupunkt, complete with "Porsche" lettering.

[Bill Verburg]

Looks sorta like the Blau Frankfurt I took out of my '72 many moons ago

[SpeedracerIndy]

It looks a heck of a lot like a Saphire from an old VW. I spent quite a bit of time staring at those saphires in old Bugs when I was too little to see out the windows.

[wevoid]

Wayne,

This radio was in the earlier of my two '72's.

The label confirms Speedracerindy.

I am assuming mine was original, perhaps yours too?
My car was originally delivered in Bakersfield I think.
Maybe it was common fitment.

I notice yours is the upscale FM version, whereas I get the cool Sapphire XVIII badging.

If the label is unreadable, it says it was made by Motorola Inc.

Regards

Hayden

[vanwyk4257]

That was a pic of my radio that Wayne posted. We've determined (guessed) that it's possibly out of a 914, but it was properly mounted in my 911 with the correct bracketry. The radio wasn't the original from my 72 however due to the basketweave faceplate. Here are a couple pics of the radio out of the car.

Can anyone confirm what this radio is?

[emcon5]

Could it have been a dealer installed item when the car was sold?

I know most of the early dealers were Porsche/Audi, but I know I have seen Porsche/Audi/VW as well.

Using Thom's ID as a base (him being the early VW guy) I Googled "Sapphire XIV Town and Country" and found this page: http://homepage.mac.com/stokester/dub_tunes/PhotoAlbum5.html

It looks pretty close.

Tom

[Yellowbird RS]

definetly! VW "Sapphire XIV Town and Country"
well done! Tom

[Early_S_Man]

No doubt whatsoever that Thom nailed it!

Look at the details of the C-T switch and the AM-FM slide switch:

[wevoid]

If the debate extends to if the Sapphire was installed at time of delivery by the dealer, I am going to say yes for the unit from my car. (9112100586)

My car also had the KoolAire system and the variety of alternate textures on the dashboard, kneepad & radio fascia must have seemed acceptable at the time - which I doubt would have been the case a few year later.

Regards

Hayden

[Joe Bob]

Don't know about the 911s of the 70s...but the 914s were all dealer installed radios. They put in what was buyer requested or whatever they had a lot of on the shelf.

Lot boys installed them and they had a lot of latitude on where to put stuff...like antennas....lot's of stuff also fell off the cars and ended up in the parts department....like spare tires with the alloy wheel....

[aj88cab]

That is the same radio that was in my '72 914, as vanwyk4257 speculated. Its laying around in a box some where in my garage.

[pwd72s]

I tried to post this link last night. Couldn't...gave up after waiting 10 minutes. Anyway, if this works, here's a link to a site describing what radios the factory wanted in early 911's:
http://www.nosubstitute.org/911/radio/default.asp

(edit) Being built by Motorola, this radio might function better than the originally intended Blaupunkt?

[trader220]

well to me it appears to be one that recieves both AM and FM stations and have 5 bottons for presettings. Its a classic. imagine getting 2 bands of wave on 1 radio

[juanbenae]

is that one of those new XM satalite deals?

[vanwyk4257]

Any ideas what the radio from my car is worth if it works and includes the face plate and knobs etc.? I would probably just as soon sell it since it's not technically the correct one for my car and it's a couple pounds of dead weight as far as I'm concerned. Thanks!