There was a time, and it wasn't really so long ago, when an 8-track player in the dashboard was a common feature in a new car. And they almost always threw in a little free software just to get you started - a sampler of middle-of-the-road, EZ listening, whitebread hits.
The cart pictured on this page represents the end of that era, 1981. A mere two years later, the CD was first introduced. Notice that this cartridge is provided courtesy of the GM Parts Division. By 1981, 8-track players were evidently no longer standard equipment in new General Motors cars. All the other 8-tracks in this photo essay proudly bear the name of a car company, rather than a mere parts division. The cartridge featured on this page is different from most complimentary auto carts in another way too, in that it contains not one single song by either Henry Mancini or Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops!
The structure of this photo essay is simple. In each case, I
show you a picture of an auto cart as well as a handy chart which
tells you its Fiedler/Mancini status. Down at the bottom of each
page, there's a little picture of the type of car you would have
had to buy in order to score the featured cartridge. Here's
something I discovered while doing research for this piece -
maybe this won't come as a surprise to any of you, but it
certainly shocked me; sometime when my back was turned,
Isuzu , Saab and Lotus ll
became General Motors products.
Thanks once again to Jim Sharpe, Esq. for lending me some carts
to scan for this article.