Factory or dealer mismatched radio surround?

[Gearby]

I've always thought that the radio surround in my '72 was done by someone who didn't care if it looked correct. However, having recently purchased a Feb. of '72 Car and Driver that has the new '72 Porsches being tested, I have realized this was a factory or dealer installed surround. There is a photo in the magazine that has the exact same basketweave surround in between the leatherette areas of the dash. Who would have done this? To me it looks completely incorrect. I'm guessing dealer since I tend to hold the factory in a higher regard, or at least I want to anyway. This car hasn't been driven since 1986. Yes, that's a vintage aftermarket jewel of a radio from the mid eighties.

[avantwe72S]

my 72S is a very early 72 and it has the same thing as your car.

[Gearby]

Now that I put a pic in there, I just noticed that I have the wrong cigarette lighter too. I vaguely recall switching out the lighter back in '93 because it "looked newer". One more thing I need to find.
I've also noticed that my rear window defrost and cigarette lighter are switched around from the picture in the magazine. Anthony, your's is exactly like the magazine too. I wonder why mine is different?

[Jim Breazeale]

It is not incorrect at all. It is a Motorola radio that was offered back in the day. The faceplate and "basket weave" are plastic. They look kinda cheesy but probably worked better and lasted longer than the customary Blaupunkt. I've got some of that stuff around here somewhere and I think I have a copy of the installation manual. I'll post pictures if I can dig them up.

Regards

Jim
PS: The cig lighter is from a "short hood" car.

[SIMI BOB]

Basket Weave all the way across my '69S. Lighter on the left also.
Bob B

[Gearby]

Jim, when you say that this radio was available "back in the day", you don't mean that it could have been original to the car, or at least original to a '72 do you? I didn't think the black plastic looking radios were available that early.
I hope I'm not the only person with a '72 that has the rear defrost knob and the cigarette lighter switched around. That couldn't be a good thing.

[mfitton]

Jim, when you say that this radio was available "back in the day", you don't mean that it could have been original to the car, or at least original to a '72 do you? I didn't think the black plastic looking radios were available that early.
I hope I'm not the only person with a '72 that has the rear defrost knob and the cigarette lighter switched around. That couldn't be a good thing.

Yes those Motorola Sapphire radios were dealer installed in the early 70's more of them went into 914's than 911's as most of the 914's came over with no radios installed.

[Gearby]

Thanks Mike, that makes sense. I don't think this radio is original to my car because of the mish mash of wiring under the dash for it. In the pic, you can see the inline fuse dangling. Not a factory looking job, although who knows with a dealer. They could have done anything I guess.

[Gearby]

What a huge relief. The cigarette lighter was in the last box I looked in. I did a little bit of research and discovered that these things in good shape are not easy to come by. So, can anybody tell me why my cigarette lighter and rear window defrost are flipped around from the other cars in this thread?

[beh911]

What a huge relief. The cigarette lighter was in the last box I looked in. I did a little bit of research and discovered that these things in good shape are not easy to come by. So, can anybody tell me why my cigarette lighter and rear window defrost are flipped around from the other cars in this thread?

I believe the location of the cig lighter and rear defroster swapped sometime during the 72-73 model year. Most cars I have seen have the lighter on the far right.

But this is 2.4 land... I'm outta my depth on the minutiae details...

Back to the world of the 2.0 - 2.2 arcane for me