Spider radios have always been a problem. When I bought my first car in 1968, the only radio that would fit was a Tenna five button AM-FM (no stereo). The quaity radios of the time were too long to fit between the front of the console and the heater box. It wasn't until 1972 that modern integrated circuits allowed shorter chassis to be designed that allowed stereo to be a part of the Fiat experience.

My original Tenna radio had a "multiplexer" that connected to a plug in the bottom of the radio and led over to the glovebox. It had an amplifier to drive two speakers and circuity to convert the mono signal to true stereo. While this was indeed "over the top" it was the only solution. There was also a switch so I could switch the speakers between the radio and the 8-track player. Remember those days? Today we have stereo-cassette-CD all in a digital compact radio that will easily fit in the limited space that also puts out 10x the power of the early sets that could hardly be heard above 60mph in 1968.

Back to Red's installation. The spider didn't come with a radio. Just a place where an old "3hole" radio was mounted, so one of the first projects was to install a new radio with speakers and antenna. While there were other issues in the car we had just installed a new interior and the lack of a radio was a rather obvious omission that needed attention if we were to drive the car.

I had been pleased with a Kennwoood custom stereo that I had installed in the Bronco. It was a tape player with CD changer mounted between the bucket seats. It worked and sounded great so Kris and I picked out a similar unit for the Fiat.

We decided on an MP3 player for this car because there wasn't enough room in the Fiat for a CD changer without going to the trunk. This worked out very well. I put most of my favorite collection on a single CD and go from folder to folder easily as I travel. There are about 180 songs on the single MP3 disk that we are currently using with lots of room to spare. We can make our own MP3 disks on our home computer. Happily, the Kenwood unit was sized so that it would fit in the available area in the center console. and installation was very straightforward.

The first step was to take the car to Custom Sounds in North County and have them cut out the speaker holes in the kick panels just above and behind the map pockets. While you can do this with a sabre saw or nibbler, they have the large hole saws necessary to make this job simple. I purchased the speakers there so they cut the holes for $10.00. A deal in my opinion.

I then brought the car home and cut the upper console for the DIN radio box. This was fairly simple with a sabre saw, but the top of the mount is very close to the top of the console. Not much leeway there for mistakes. These radios use a "cage" that the radio slides into and this helps to reinforce the area slightly. On the chrome bumper cars, you also have to be careful about wire length. The wires to the hazzard switch are pretty short and you might have to massage the dash bundle to get a little more length as the new radios are a bit wider than the old ones and the wires have to make a longer trip.

I bought a pair of 6.5" Eclipse speakers that are rated to 150 watts. They can stand the constant high sound levels necessary in an open car without breaking down.We took care to carefully seal the kick panels and the wheel splash area to try to keep the speakers dry in the unlikely event that we were caught in the rain in the Fiat. An added advantage of sealing the area is the speakers produce decent bass for now but there are plans to install a subwoofer and some small midrange speakers in the footwells in the near future.

 As mentioned above the car had originally an old style 3 hole radio installation that included speakers in the rear quarter panels. I don't think these work very well and interfere with the top. We removed the original black quarter panels with their blown Sparkomatic speakers and put in the solid beige panels to match the new interior from Green in their place. The sound of the quality front speakers is good enough that rear speakers are unnecessary in such a small car.

For the antenna, we purchased a generic automatic antenna at the local Auto Zone for about $35.00 (looks just like the one in the Jeep for $125) and installed it in the same hole that the original antenna came out of. The hookup was simple,we routed new antenna signal and power wire to the trunk for the automatic antenna, hooked up the speakers and ran the power from the lighter to the radio, and it came up the first time.

There is plenty of volume for touring to about 80 mph. The sound is above average to good. The bass is fair because of the sealed area behind the speakers. Plenty of midrange and the small tweeters in the co axial arrangement is adequate for our needs. The MP3 player is a great alternative to a changer and I heartily recommend them especially in the case of the spider, where there is so little room. The simplicity of the two speaker system is a real plus. The car really needs a small set of speakers aimed at the passengers to give a little clarity to the sound at higher speeds. The bass and midrange of the kickpanel speakers are fine, but when driving, a lot of the sound gets lost in road noise and general music produced by the DOHC engine. Fine with me!

We are going to add a Kenwood Woox compact subwoffer under the glove box facing down in the future just to see if it helps the overall sound. There are no plans at the present time to put rear speakers in the car, though Kris has a small "truck box" in the back of his car with long speaker wires that he can remove and aim at after school gatherings. He also has an Infinity Basslink in his trunk that attacks too much attention for my taste, but I have to admit is the ultimate in Fiat spider sound.

Normally I listen to the radio when in town to pass the time while stuck in traffic. When touring, the radio is mostly decoration, but it is nice to have quailty sounding tunes availble when cruising down the lane on that beautiful Fiat day!