Looking for info:

I have 3 Oldsmobile complimentary 8-track tapes from the late '70's, I believe, and one Oldsmobile cassette cartridge from early '80's???

Is there anyplace I can research these to see exactly what they are??

These tapes were removed from NEW cars at the railyard where my late girlfriend was employed, and I believe they have NEVER been used....but not sure of that. Were these tapes originally shrink wrapped in plastic when new?

I do have two 8-track tape players/recorders in perfect working condition (home type, not the car type....), and I could play them to check on working condition, but hesitate to do so, if they have never been used! They have been in climate controlled indoor storage for over 30 years!

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me......OR.....if anybody wants anything in particular as a perfect compliment to their factory tape player equipped Olds!!

 

It was standard practice for Olds to include a complimentary 8-track tape in any car that was equipped with an 8-track player, and it wasn't just Olds. My father had a '76 Cadillac with an 8-track player, and it came with one of those tapes (with a Cadillac logo on it, of course). It was just a way for the new owner to have something to listen to, especially if this was their first 8-track, and they had nothing else to play in it. The tapes generally contained popular songs of the day.

You see these on ebay fairly regularly. There's nothing unique or unusual about them, but some people do collect them, or at least want one to complete the collection of what came in the glovebox, along with the owner's manual, etc., when their car was new.




http://www.ebay.com/itm/1972-Oldsmob...f166fb&vxp=mtr

 

Thanks, Jaunty, for the reply; I knew they were included with the new car, but I was trying to identify exactly WHICH year car they were included with, as well as whether or not they were new, as issued, as I believe they were NEVER used!

In the past, I had a '68 Cutlass with 8-track, and two '70 442's with 8-track, one of which was an original W-30. But these tapes are later than that, thus useless to me as being factory complimentary tapes to enhance my cars....

None of my cars ever were purchased with the ORIGINAL 8-track tape.....as issued from the factory.

 

If you look at the back of the 8 track it will show what year the selections were from. Yes, they were originally shrink wrapped. I think around 1978.79??? they changed from 8 track to cassette. My 83 Regency Brougham came with a cassette and it was shrink wrapped.

 

Thanks, Allan!

One of the 8-tracks says 1976 CBS, but the other two are not dated specifically, only the music copyrights for the songs, from 1972-1978.

The cassette has dates for music up to 1980, but is not dated, either.

None of these tapes are shrink-wrapped, so I assume they have been used at some point , although I have never used them in the last 35 or so years!

 

I know somebody here can use these for a '70's Olds with factory equipped 8 track tape player......SO........what year do you have, and what would be the soundtrack for the factory OLDS tape??

Make a reasonable offer, and their yours!!

 

These would make good stocking stuffers for Christmas!

 

I have several brand new cassettes in original shrink wrap which I purchased a few years ago. Please note these are cassettes an not 8 tracks

 

I am one of the wierdos that collects these. I have almost every tape from 67 through 80 and even some cassettes and a dvd from 2003 I think. I even have two of the 1964 "new stars in action" LP records.


Anyway, from my research, it appears that on the ones with copy write dates printed on them, the date is the year before the actual model year of the car that the tape was sold with. So a tape with a copy write of 1975 would actually be given away with a 1976 car.

They also labeled them with "Variety In Concert volume **(roman numerals used here **)" on the cardboard sleeve. The 1967 tape was Volume I.


Some years had dates printed on the tape itself and some didn't. The tape I have that I believe to be a 67 does not have a date.
The 69 tape I have has "variety In Concert Volume III" and is dated 1968.
The 1970,71 and 72 tapes don't have dates printed on them but if you have the cardboard sleeve, it has the date and volume on it. The 70-72 tapes themselves had codes printed on them. So if you know the code for the given tape, you could tell what year it was from. 70 = pcs8 547. 71 = pcs8 563. 72 = pcs8 584. This is printed at the bottom edge of the cart.
The latest dated cardboard cover I have is 1974 which would be a 1975 tape and Volume IX. This is the last one I believe they used the Variety In Concert volume ** titles on. I'd be interested to see if anyone has a tape or cardboard sleeve with volume X(10) on it.


Also, 1975 (75 copy write date - 1976 model year) appears to be the last tape that had a black label with silver trim/lettering. The 1976 (76 copy write date - 1977 model year) appears to be the first year they went to the white label with red print.


I know there's no info on cassettes here but I hope this helps some with the 8 track identification.

 

The early Oldsmobile 8 track tapes came in plastic cases. Starting with the 1971 model year they went with the cardboard sleeve.

 

Hey Been there,
Thanks for posting those. I have the 70 tape with plastic case but no case for my 67 tape. Interesting to see those.
I have the 69 tape and it is a white cart with a blue label. Don't have the case for it.
The real mystery to me is the 1968 tape. I don't know that I've ever seen one. Anyone have a pic of a 1968 comp tape?

 

I always believed the red tape was 1968. Many years ago I found a red tape in the glove box of a 1968 Olds 98 (equipped with the factory 8 track). There was another early Olds tape with a yellowish label. Thought it was the 1967 tape.