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Show and Tell
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Ford "Sampler" 8-Tracks.
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We have a few original tapes available. They've been checked out and play well. You can order a tape from our
For Sale page.
A limited number of quality reproductions of the '66, '67, 68, and '69 tapes are also available.
The '66 and '67 versions are available with or without the plastic tray. The others include slip-covers and are shrink-wrapped (non-playing versions).
An example of the '69 tape can be viewed by clicking
here.
You can order a reproduction tape from our Order page
More information on demo tapes is available at the Auto 8-Track Shack. The site has lists of tapes from Ford
and other manufacturers as well as a for sale page where you might just find that classic John Deere tape you had when you were a kid.
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Introduced in 1966, the
"Stereosonic Tape System" brought high fidelity out of your living room
and into your Ford, Lincoln, or Mercury for the first time.
Available for the entire Ford line, the system consisted of an AM radio
with integral stereo "8-Track" tape player. 8-track tapes contain
a continuous loop of tape with four programs of music. Each program
uses two tracks with one track for the left channel and one for the right.
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Since the tapes to play on the new systems were fairly new and not readily available
other than at your finer truck stops, Ford provided Sampler tapes.
These tapes were put out by the RCA Victor Special Products Division and
contained a variety of music and instrumentals. As shown here, the
tapes came in a plastic case and included a warranty/instruction manual
and a card with information on how to obtain tapes containing musical selections
other than the fine collection of American Dental Association approved
tracks provided by Ford.
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One of the more interesting features of these tapes is the artwork on the packaging.
The artwork on the first few years was somewhat utilitarian and limited
to the box only. The tapes contained a label showing the music selection
for each program.
1966 and '67 tapes came in these plastic boxes.
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 Sometime
in 1967, the plastic box was scrapped for the more economical cardboard sleeve.
The '67 PC8S 500 tape came in both the earlier plastic boxes and in the cardboard style as seen here. The artwork stayed the same; however, the musical selection
was now included on the sleeve as well as the tape.
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 The
1969 tape is interesting in that the design looks so much more modern than
the '68 even though the basic components of the design were the same.
This design looks as if it were done by the same folks responsible for
service replacement part boxes.
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 In
1970, someone in the design studio must have finally noticed one of these
tapes laying around and being artistic types, decided they were a canvas
for creativity that was going to waste. So they began an eclectic series
of artistic styles that spanned several years.
1970 also marked the first
year that warranty information was moved to the side of the sleeve rather
than as a separate card. The warranty period was also reduced to
30 days from date of purchase from the one year period of earlier tapes.
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 Although drugs,
assassinations, and wars were raging in the late '60s and early '70s, all was
peaceful in the design studios at Ford as the serenic scenes of the 1970
and this 1971 tape show.
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 The focus
moved from the seashore to the great Southwest in 1972. Cover art switched from photography to what appears
to be oil on canvas. Now there would be an interesting piece of Ford history to find.
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 This
impressionistic scene used for the 1973 tape is one of my favorites.
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 For
1974, the artists in the design studio went for the over the sofa look
with this scene reminiscent of paintings seen in living rooms all accross
America at the time.
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 1975
marked the first appearance of Ford World Headquarters on a sleeve and
the last uniquely designed slipcover for the stereo tapes.
Ford HQ remained the
focus of tape art up through 1980.
1975 was also the last year
for the phrase Family of Fine Music.
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 In
1976, Ford switched to these open window generic sleeves used for all tapes
put out by RCA. The tape itself contained a label with artwork that
showed through the window of the sleeve. This scene shows Ford HQ
in the fall.
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 This
nighttime Fall view of Ford HQ in this 1977 tape is interesting in that
it is symbolic of the dark times that befell Ford in the late '70s.
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 In
1978, Ford was in the midst of its darkest times with cars that were too
large, poorly built, and most importantly, not selling. These times
were reflected in this winter time view of Ford HQ.
Apparently, 8-track tape
artwork design was the least of Ford's worries in the late '70s as this same design was
used up through 1980.
One interesting note is that
the warranty period was increased starting in 1978. The warranty
period was not for a specific time period but rather, ended in December
of each year.
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 Starting
in 1981, Ford switched to this design, bringing back the Better Idea
theme used in happier times.
The spirit of Henry Ford
was still alive in the early '80s; at least in the audio department at
Ford. Ford continued to offer 8-track stereos up through 1983, all using this same design; long
after cassettes had become the predominate tape media.
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As a side note, it would
seem that quality control at RCA needed improvement in the early '80s too
as this warranty label from a 1982 tape shows:
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Quadrasonic Sound - The Betamax of thec Music Industry
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 In
1976, Ford introduced Quadrasonic tape players. Similar in design
to stereo 8-tracks, these tapes contained four channels for each program
to give the first surround sound. Since they used twice as many tracks,
quad tapes only contained two programs with part of the first program containing
instructions on how to use the new-fangled players.
Though they used similar
artwork as the stereo tapes, quad tapes had uniquely designed slip covers
up through 1978 as seen here in this tape from 1977.
For some reason though, only
the 1978 quad tape contained warranty information as shown here:
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 In
1979, Ford dropped the unique sleeves for this generic RCA Q8 sleeve.
This image shows the label on the tape itself which contains written instructions
for using the tape player.
Variations in this label
were used for all the quad tapes. All Ford quad tapes are red in
color rather than the white used for the stereo tapes.
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| Identifying Ford Tapes |
The early tapes used numbers that were assigned by RCA. These numbers
were printed on the box, tape label, and ink stamped on the bottom of the
tapes. Ink stamps were used up through 1971
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Starting in 1972, the numbers were stamped directly into the plastic of the tape.
This practice continued through 1976 (except for quad tapes which have no markings) after which, markings were limited
to the tape label only.
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The tables below list the identifying numbers used for both the stereo and quad tapes. These lists may not be complete as there was more than one tape produced in some years.
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| Stereo |
| 1966 |
PC8S 183 |
| 1966 |
PC8S 185 |
| 1966 |
PC8S 1861 |
| 1966 |
PC8S 203 |
| 1966 |
PC8S 2052 |
| 1966 |
PC8S 2063 |
| 1967 |
PC8S 500 |
| 1968 |
PC8S 524 |
| 1969 |
PC8S 535 |
| 1970 |
PC8S 546 |
| 1970 |
PC85 546
(Ford of Australia) |
| 1971 |
PC8S 555 |
| 1972 |
PC8S 581 |
| 1973 |
PC8S 591 |
| 1974 |
D4AA-19A059-AA |
| 1975 |
D5AA-19A059-AA |
| 1976 |
D6AA-19A059-AA |
| 1976 |
D6AA-19A059-AB |
| 1977 |
D7AA-19A059-AA |
| 1978 |
D8AF-19A059-AA |
| 1979 |
D9ZF-19A059-AA |
| 1980 |
E0VF-19A059-AA |
| 1981 |
E1AF-19A059-AA |
| 1982 |
E2AF-19A059-AA |
| 1983 |
E3AF-19A059-AA |
| 1983 |
E3AF-19A059-BA |
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1) This 4 minute tape was titled "Stereo Demonstrator Tape" and was probably only intended as a Salesman's demo tape and not normally given away.
Click here
and here
for images of these tapes.
2) This tape is titled "MUSTANG DEMONSTRATION TAPE"
3) This tape is titled "THUNDERBIRD DEMONSTRATION TAPE"
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| Quad |
| 1976 |
D6SZ-19A189-AA |
| 1977 |
D7AZ-19A189-AA |
| 1978 |
D8AF-19A189-AA |
| 1979 |
D9AF-19A189-AA |
| 1979 |
D9AF-19A189-BA |
| 1980 |
E0AF-19A189-AA |
| 1981 |
E1AF-19A189-AA |
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