The buttons were coded to the radio. If you broke them the radio stopped working. Remove the panel and there was a "sock" to put it in to keep the contacts from being damaged. Great anti-theft device.
That was a security feature from back in the day when thieves stole car radios. My sister had an aftermarket unit in her car that had a detachable screen for the same reason.
@@trumpsmum9210English must not be your first language. His reply is plenty relevant. No one said it's not a security feature, or that's unrelated to the OG posters statement. You seem bitter.
Really? Did you even live in the 80s? Radios in the 80s were not typically stolen and had 2 knobs and could be replaced for 25 bucks. In the 90s however they did have "pull out decks" and then "faceoff" or "detachable face" decks on aftermarket stereos but nothing like detachable buttons on an oem unit.
@@Brock-g3z well first off who says I'm in the US which I'm not. Secondly you must have been a baby in the 80s then because in dash players were almost exclusively am, am/fm, or am/fm/tape players and consisted to 2 knobs and an analog dial regardless of where you lived at the time. It was only early 90s when theft deterrent methods became a thing.
The entire face came off at one time to help prevent theft... It was just like carrying an always dead cellphone everywhere, before there were cellphones...
That's when you knew you were a "playa". You had a CD player that didn't skip, AND a detachable face. If you took it to the next level, you had a equalizer and Alpine amps.
@jamesd.9955 ...all I could afford was a set of 12" MTX speakers in boxes(with 4" mids and 2" tweets) that fit behind the bench seat of my '86 4x4 regular cab Ranger, with supposed 800W Amps under each side of the bench, with one amp dedicated to each speaker box, which meant the seat was as far forward as it could go to fit those speakers... ..a cheap set-up, but was enuff to make the mirrors useless... ..worked great til I got 6" of water in the cab playing in big puddles... ..I let all the magic smoke out of the amps etc, that day when I discovered they weren't waterproof in any way... it sounded like a shotgun went off in that tiny cab when they popped... ...made my passenger duck thinking we were being shot at... and I lived in western canada, where we didn't have drive by action like they did in LA or Chicago back then(and now)
This was called the anti-theft protection panel, and this head unit was on Focuses and Mercury Cougars from 2000-2004ish. It's really weird that only a little piece came off, because a stereo thief wouldn't necessarily notice, if they were willing to steal a stock head unit.
It was small enough to fit in your pocket, purse, etc. That is a large face piece to have to manage if you were going to the store or work. I would hope that they know what they are getting if they are willing to face the legal ramifications. So I would assume that seeing what looks like a whole in the front of the radio would make me at least look.
I'm guessing you wouldn't be able to use it without that and the reset code, so it would make it worthless. But yeah, if they don't notice it until after it's stolen it doesn't really help the owner, not like they're gonna bring the thing back after they realize it's worthless. 😅
Yes, on my mum's old Escort. It also had a security code that needed to be entered if you disconnect the power, something you may need to be careful of if the code isn't noted somewhere. I've also seen others where it was the entire faceplate which you removed, although they were 'normal' sized cd players/radios.
We used to buy cars at auction. The problem was the auctioneers would take the security panels out and throw them all in a box, so it was a lottery whether the one they gave you was the right one for the car.
6 месяцев назад
If it was one of these you'd have been golden. They're not coded to the stereo they came from, the stereo its self has a four digit code as per the norm.
Its an anti theft mechanism that was to prevent people from stealing the radios. However most thieves would ignore you if you kept it stock. They wanted the aftermarket radios since thoses were easier to remove snd resell.
We had a slide in 8-Track player that fit on a bracket under the dash. Had a bracket in the pickup and the Oldsmobile. 😅 Of course suitcases of 8-track tapes. Left a little room for the player in a suitcase. 🎶
Bought a radio one time back in the day and when the car power shut off the faceplate would sink in and lift up to make it look like someone already stole the faceplate. Was marketed as some kind of theft prevention. Had a Sony unit that came with a nice little case to carry the face in when you were out and about. Good times.
I don't think it was meant to look like someone stole it. It was about a thief thinking that it was a detachable faceplate that the owner took with him.
There is also a clip on the back side of the detachable buttons to be used much like a clip on an ink pen. That way you could clip it in your shirt or pants pocket.
That was the early days of non-DIN chassis radios, they were expensive, $300-500 apiece, and could be slid out of the dash like DIN chassis radios, so they became a hot theft item overnight. I've still got a top end Clarion radio with removable faceplate from the 90's. Had a bear full face blue LCD screen with white text, was the coolest thing around at the time, now people watch movies and browse the internet where the radio used to be.
@joeshmoe1436, lol that is a funny comment but I believe the point is, this component is required for the radio to function at all but it's so small you can just slip it into any pocket. Then thieves don't even bother with the car.
They have a tool that you can stick in those four holes on the sides and the entire radio will come out in your hand. The idea behind the removable buttons was to make it useless if you did that and stole it. Not that anybody ever stole the damn thing but it was protected
This was quite common in Europe during the 90s. The buttons were coded to the radio and couldn't be used separately at all. It was meant to be a simple anti theft device and it was working pretty well.
All radios were stolen from time to time no one was exempt from the thieves . Well it's good to know maybe I will check next time I'm shopping for a vehicle . 73
My father's '99 Mondeo Wagon had that too so this is nothing new to me. Me and my sister loved that car to bits since it was there for most of our childhood
Before the detachable face for anti-theft, the entire unit was designed to pull out. Back in cassette vs 8 track days it was a loveable feature allowing multiple formats easily interchanged. This sort of thing dates back to the 1930s.
Yeah I remember everyone flexing these when they were a thing 😂 and “radio fascia’s” to stop people stealing the whole unit it was a big thing in the 90’s/00’s
Today the stock radio is usually coded to the car, so no code or security panel is required. The radio usually even have extra security features, like, to eject the disc, the immobilizer had to send a disc unlock code to the radio, meaning you actually had to start the car so the car key would "authenticate" to the immobilizer. This also means, theres no radio code either. If your radio is broken, and you buy a radio on the scrapyard, you have to bring the scrap title document to a authorized dealer, which will use the computer to "de-associate" the radio from the scrapped car, and then "re-associate" the radio with your car, and then it will work again.
Yes it was made like that for two reasons. 1) it helped us gain access to the electronic programming section. And 2 it made the radio useless if stolen. It was an after, after thought. There was a bit of a hiccup in the dash design. Ford partnered with Kia, I do believe and out came this lovely radio.
Back in 2002 this thing had a big problem reading copied cd's. Replaced it with a fancy jvc that could read mp3 files from cd. No usb flash drive back then
My late grandpa used to have a 2000 ford focus and it had an aftermarket pioneer radio in it but when i found the factory radio in the garage I learned about it and I thought it was pretty cool. I still have the original radio out of it to this day but the car itself has since been sent to the crusher.
My dad has this in his Mondeo circa 2000. Back then most radios had removable entire front panel, but carrying that around was not really comfortable, so for came up with buttons (coded to one particular radio).
I had a non factory car stereo with detachable buttons long ago, now i have one with removable front panel which is pretty old. Back in the 80´s it was common having the whole stereo in a cassette that you removed at least here in Sweden, i had that myself back then.
There was actually a product sold years ago that looked like your radio / cd player was already stolen. It was a panel that had cut wires coming from it that you placed over that area.
I owned a 2002 Ford Focus SVT with the Audiophile system with steering column mounted radio controls. The head unit was a AM/FM 6 disc in-dash CD changer with a similar anti-theft device. After a while I installed an aftermarket head unit in my vehicle.
Seeing that interior really brought back memories for me; I had a 2001 ZTS with that radio feature. I used to remove it before leaving it at the airport, not that anyone was likely to steal it. Now I have a car that doesn't even have a head unit ...
This was from when detachable face radios were popular. I had them in the 90s, it was to prevent scum from stealing your radio. They usually came with a case for the detachable part.
I don't know about the US but car radio theft was a thing in the UK. Removal of the front of the radio unit is a good anti theft method as those front facias/buttons (in this case) as they were coded to their counterpart.
Yes, there was a little plastic box for it too with a pocket clip so you could carry it in your jacket pocket too. I had a Mondeo with it in '98 for work.
I used to have a radio in my 93 Saturn SC, that the whole front plate would come off like that. However I have not seen that with just buttons 2-5, we learn a little bit each day!
Yes. All the original Ford radios had this in the Fiesta, Focus, Ka, Ikon, Bantam (a small pick up in South Africa similar to the Courier pick up in Brazil). May be even in the Mondeo and Escort. They worked with a unique security code.
I had this on my MK1 focus and I also driven a Ford Transit for work which had the same button panel which you could remove. There was a difference though. The Focus radio had electrical contacts as featured in this video but the Transit just had little rods that pushed through from the removable panels buttons with an interlock switch that would allow you to turn on the radio once the removable panel was in place. You could just insert a paper clip in and the radio would power on and use a biro to push the missing buttons.
I had a head unit made by LA SOUND that had the middle buttons removable, which disabled the stereo from working. Cool feature back in the day and much more convenient than lugging around a pull-out!
Yes, in EU radios were with detachable displays and/or buttons to prevent thieves to stole them, if they stole it they can't use it/sell it without the screen or/and buttons.
Lots of manufacturers had factory fitted head units with removable panels. My Alfa had one (although it was really a Philips unit with Alfa Romeo branding). Became less common as they went from standard single DIN head units to the more bespoke ones. Some of the manufacturers tried other deterrents such as full or partial covers. Note in the comments that a lot of fortunate people lived in areas where the factory fitted ones weren’t stolen, but the higher end Ford stereos were targeted, at least near me, presumably to fit in the lower end models.
I learnt that when I bought mine 2 years ago. I also swapped out the entire unit with a Sony Bluetooth unit. As the buttons also caused the unit to play up while driving. Yes its a anti theft design to stop car radio thives from stealing and dealing. Now in the UK they just steal the whole car. And the Ford fiesta is the most stolen.
My Dad’s 1999 Fiesta had this also, with a clip on the backside of the buttons so you could clip it to you like a pen. I think all Fords of this generation had these radios, 3000 series up to 6000 series I believe they were called. The sound from them wasn’t actually that bad for a stock radio
Yes back in late 90s rented a Ford Mondeo in Europe with exact same head unit… there was high rates of radio and even windshield wiper thefts in the areas we were visiting, so this gave us a slightly improved peace of mind.
The Ford 1000/5000/6000/6006 series radio all had removable panels. The 1000 series was slightly different as the volume buttons were removable rather than the radio channel presets.
Yep. I've seen this in Brazil, in the 90's fiesta and focus. And more, you can make it work without the detachable buttons using a paperclip as a jumper in 2 of those pins... Did it a lot. Regards from Brazil...
hello please help me as i need to learn this trick Immeditatly I bought the strip for the car but it has to be pushed in really hard for It to work so the strip is a no go which 2 pins do I have to bridge???
i had a 1994 ford escort gt. it had a removable kill switch under the dash stock that you could click onto your keys. talk about a 90’s gimmick. was actually kinda cool. lol.
If you wanna have your mind blown even more The radio is somewhere else in the car that's just a control unit And you can swap any other Ford factory control unit into there by just pulling out that one and plug in the new one. I still don't understand the logic behind the removal buttons on a base model AMF FM CD player though I could understand if it had the CD changer ....
common in UK, to prevent radio theft, most cars had it and after market stereos had it or fully removable head unit, full radio had a handle and pull unit out.
I noticed this the first time my grandfather first showed me his first gen Ford Focus, because nicking car stereos were fashionable, and by having part of the interface removable (or most had entire removable face plate) even if they got the working bit of the stereo, they'd need to get a compatible face plate (which I always just put in my bag at college during the day, as then the automotive students would be less motivated to nick my radio, as it was something done by people on basically the same course at a different college the year beforehand)
It's literally explained on the stereo user manual that should be found inside the glovebox, along with the car user manual and the maintenance record book.
Yep. Radio thefts were a real problem in the 80s and 90s We had entire head unit's with handles that pulled out. Then face off units then these. We also had some that flipped around to cover the front.
I had that same car thought a different sub model. It had the exact same dash. It’s supposedly a step up from the detachable full frontal stereo face and way after the detachable full stereo units! If it’s detached, obviously the stereo is inoperable!
Remember when you could buy an aftermarket radio that you could actually pull the whole radio out? I still have one. Not being used, but I still have it. Has a cassette player.
I think it was a remote to where you could change your stations instead of looking off at the radio and getting into an accident. But everyone knows about the detachable face plates that's nothing new. They still make them till this day. But if you know what your taking you can get a used or new one from the without a problem and go on with your new unit. I used to work in an audio store back in the day and I've seen that focus removable numbers. It was more for safty then anything.
This is very normal for the 1990s & early 2000s , like this 1st generation Ford Focus ... the same (or a very similar) radio was also in the 1990s Ford Fiesta ... the right button unlocks this part even easier ( & as intended by Ford)
We had these car radios in U.K. Ford Cars in the late 90s-2000s Yes-I knew about the detachable numbered plate-the radio wouldn’t work without it-this was a measure Ford introduced to deter theft of these radios from their vehicles !!
Yeah, back when i was a kid, we had a ford with those exact same buttons, we always had to hide it in the pocket on the back of the passenger seat because it would supposedly get stolen otherwise. Right now i have an older car where the entire lcd pannel including the buttons and volume wheel comes off if you want it to
Yes both my 2001 SE and SE Sport has the detachable faceplate/face buttons on the Blaupunk stereo. My 2003 had a totally different and more expensive sound system but didn't. Also whenever you put a new battery in you would need to know the code for that stereo as well. At least on mine we did
You're not the only one, but looks like you weren't around cars in the 90's. Stereo theft was very common so every aftermarket unit had detachable panel to prevent theft, sometimes i was the full panel some other just a portion like the keypad. Despite looking embedded in the dash this stereo is a normal "slot in" one, so it's easy to steal (notice the two pair of holes on the sides, it's were you plug the tool to detach it), mounting a detachable panel it's a wise choice
In the UK every single Ford had these radio's from the late 80 through to 00's. I remember never understanding the point coz we all replaced them with desirable aftermarket Kenwood or JVC head unit's instead, which were actually likely to get stolen. The really annoying thing was selling the car and taking out your own Kenwood head unit, back shelf 6x9's, door speakers, tweeters, Rockford Fosgate amp and 15 inch subwoofer, only to find you've forgotten the code for the crappy Ford radio, resulting in having to reduce the price coz there's holes on the parcel shelf and the new owner has to contact Ford to get the radio code to work. Lol! I've actually still got my Rockford Fosgate punch bass amp in my shed.....
Depends on how old you are. In 80s /90s many cars were broken into and radios removed . Removing this part of course made them unusable . These were very common at one time.
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Yeah in the 90's the POS's stole car radios, now they steal Kia's and Chargers.
Theeves today be like: what's a radio? Lolol
More like whats a CD
Actually they steal 1941-present Chryslers/Jeeps/Dodges/Rams!
blacks
Blacks😊
The buttons were coded to the radio. If you broke them the radio stopped working. Remove the panel and there was a "sock" to put it in to keep the contacts from being damaged. Great anti-theft device.
A better anti-theft device is that its a stock Ford focus stereo.
@stinkwink695 💯 I was thinkingthe same thing. My sister in law focus broke down 800mi from home for the 3rd time. No way is the radio worth even $10
@@FixItYerselfnah focuses were really great cars, mine survived 21 years in a good condition
@@saiko953 Girlfriend has a 99' Taurus, paint and plastic trim pieces are a little worse for ware but it's a fun car to drive 25 years later.
Except when they got hot, expanded, and popped off the radio. Usually while driving.
That was a security feature from back in the day when thieves stole car radios. My sister had an aftermarket unit in her car that had a detachable screen for the same reason.
Cool story bro but this is factory
@@trumpsmum9210no he’s right your supposed to take the detachable part with you
@@johnwilliamson7000 lol English must not be your first language
@@trumpsmum9210nothing was wrong with that sentence.. they are both right.
@@trumpsmum9210English must not be your first language. His reply is plenty relevant. No one said it's not a security feature, or that's unrelated to the OG posters statement.
You seem bitter.
Anti theft device for the radio...very common in the 90s and early 2000
Beat me to saying same thing!
You didn't see this on any factory radios. Stop 🛑 lying. Aftermarket maybe
That's not what he asked tho.
@@martintodd1971 kiddo, you've got no clue
😂 not factory. Focus was the only one
It's stops anyone using the radio if it's stolen. Many stereos had it back in the 80s
Really? Did you even live in the 80s? Radios in the 80s were not typically stolen and had 2 knobs and could be replaced for 25 bucks. In the 90s however they did have "pull out decks" and then "faceoff" or "detachable face" decks on aftermarket stereos but nothing like detachable buttons on an oem unit.
@A_Person_You_Dont_Know yes I lived in the 80s. Now I don't know or even care what happened in America. I'm talking about the UK
@@Brock-g3z well first off who says I'm in the US which I'm not. Secondly you must have been a baby in the 80s then because in dash players were almost exclusively am, am/fm, or am/fm/tape players and consisted to 2 knobs and an analog dial regardless of where you lived at the time. It was only early 90s when theft deterrent methods became a thing.
@A_Person_You_Dont_Know You must be a yank, because in this country, we don't say 'bucks', we use English. Lmao. Secondly, yes they were.
Easy to bypass there a 6 pin eprom inside just copy the data from another working radio across jobs a gooden 😂
Back when a CD player was something worth stealing.
These ones never were. 1.5 din OEM crappy factory head unit.
@@Twitch_Moderator you'd get $20 at a pawn shop back when groceries for a week was $30-40 for one person.
Still is.
The cassette versions of these radios still had this feature lol
@@Twitch_Moderator2 din, to be precise.
The entire face came off at one time to help prevent theft...
It was just like carrying an always dead cellphone everywhere, before there were cellphones...
Mine dose that but it’s not stock
That's when you knew you were a "playa". You had a CD player that didn't skip, AND a detachable face. If you took it to the next level, you had a equalizer and Alpine amps.
@jamesd.9955 ...all I could afford was a set of 12" MTX speakers in boxes(with 4" mids and 2" tweets) that fit behind the bench seat of my '86 4x4 regular cab Ranger, with supposed 800W Amps under each side of the bench, with one amp dedicated to each speaker box, which meant the seat was as far forward as it could go to fit those speakers...
..a cheap set-up, but was enuff to make the mirrors useless...
..worked great til I got 6" of water in the cab playing in big puddles...
..I let all the magic smoke out of the amps etc, that day when I discovered they weren't waterproof in any way... it sounded like a shotgun went off in that tiny cab when they popped...
...made my passenger duck thinking we were being shot at... and I lived in western canada, where we didn't have drive by action like they did in LA or Chicago back then(and now)
I’m sorry, you’re the only one
Before the detachable face, they had after Market radios that pulled out completely, that you carried around 😂 my brother had one in the early 90s...
This was called the anti-theft protection panel, and this head unit was on Focuses and Mercury Cougars from 2000-2004ish.
It's really weird that only a little piece came off, because a stereo thief wouldn't necessarily notice, if they were willing to steal a stock head unit.
They were fitted (in different guises/models) to all European Ford's at one point, Focus, Ka, Fiesta, Mondeo Etc.
It was small enough to fit in your pocket, purse, etc. That is a large face piece to have to manage if you were going to the store or work. I would hope that they know what they are getting if they are willing to face the legal ramifications. So I would assume that seeing what looks like a whole in the front of the radio would make me at least look.
I'm guessing you wouldn't be able to use it without that and the reset code, so it would make it worthless. But yeah, if they don't notice it until after it's stolen it doesn't really help the owner, not like they're gonna bring the thing back after they realize it's worthless. 😅
that's why ford needed a bailout 😂
You're forgetting the little red security LED which would be flashing in the space vacated by the panel.
Yes, on my mum's old Escort. It also had a security code that needed to be entered if you disconnect the power, something you may need to be careful of if the code isn't noted somewhere.
I've also seen others where it was the entire faceplate which you removed, although they were 'normal' sized cd players/radios.
As if anyone would want a stock radio anyway.....
@@rickjohansson4257 people Stole any type of radio/cd player, especially in the 80's
@@rickjohansson4257 in the 90s and 00s, yeah they did.
I had this on my Escort back in the 90s. It also had a red LED that flashed to put thieves off
In South Africa when there was a healthy demand for car radios, you could detach the face and take it with you.
You’re the only one mate. This is a long-standing feature.
Finally, a 4 button remote control I can understand.
Except it'd be even worse if they did anything else than switch to that specific saved channel 😂
Yeah, I knew about the detachable hardware. Was done to prevent stereo theft. First time I’ve seen it actually in this setup.
Yes, my 2001 Focus had a similar security feature. In the Florida sun, it would heat up and pop off while I was driving.
You’re still talking about the radio, right?
Had the same problem, during argentinian 's summers 🤦🤦🤦
Same on our Focus from 1999 :-/ . These buttons still poping up from the radio while driving and the radio turning off.
Very common feature in the Focus 1st Generation of late 90s, early 00s.
We used to buy cars at auction. The problem was the auctioneers would take the security panels out and throw them all in a box, so it was a lottery whether the one they gave you was the right one for the car.
If it was one of these you'd have been golden. They're not coded to the stereo they came from, the stereo its self has a four digit code as per the norm.
I've never seen that I've only seen the whole faceplate come off. You learn something new everyday. 😮
It's the same thing the only diference is the button come off instead of the face.
In Europe most other Fords at the time used this type of radio, and they also had the removable buttons
Its an anti theft mechanism that was to prevent people from stealing the radios. However most thieves would ignore you if you kept it stock. They wanted the aftermarket radios since thoses were easier to remove snd resell.
Back in the 90s it seem like no one's car stereo was safe🧟♂️ and I'm kind of old so I had one of those big pull-out radios in high school🦸♂️
Now they just take the whole car
We had a slide in 8-Track player that fit on a bracket under the dash. Had a bracket in the pickup and the Oldsmobile. 😅 Of course suitcases of 8-track tapes. Left a little room for the player in a suitcase. 🎶
True but ford's were difficult to steal due to key design
Yeah, my brother had one as well, kinda goofy carrying around a whole radio😂😂
He was talking about detachable BUTTONS
I grew up in the nineties.... Every stereo head unit was detachable! I remember these buttons too.
I'm England, so it was overseas as well 👌
Quite right guv, cherio👌
Crikey!! The dingo ate yo' baby!!!
Bought a radio one time back in the day and when the car power shut off the faceplate would sink in and lift up to make it look like someone already stole the faceplate. Was marketed as some kind of theft prevention.
Had a Sony unit that came with a nice little case to carry the face in when you were out and about.
Good times.
I had a Kenwood flip around like that. It was so cool. When you turned engine off the face plate would flip around
🏳️🌈 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
I don't think it was meant to look like someone stole it. It was about a thief thinking that it was a detachable faceplate that the owner took with him.
There is also a clip on the back side of the detachable buttons to be used much like a clip on an ink pen. That way you could clip it in your shirt or pants pocket.
The buttons often have a little clip on them so you can keep it in your shirt pocket.
No they don’t
Yes they do
That was the early days of non-DIN chassis radios, they were expensive, $300-500 apiece, and could be slid out of the dash like DIN chassis radios, so they became a hot theft item overnight.
I've still got a top end Clarion radio with removable faceplate from the 90's. Had a bear full face blue LCD screen with white text, was the coolest thing around at the time, now people watch movies and browse the internet where the radio used to be.
So instead of stealing the radio they jus take the button s to piss u off 😁
That will do it too
No you dmbass. You take the buttons with you when you're not in your car so when they steal your radio it won't work.
@joeshmoe1436, lol that is a funny comment but I believe the point is, this component is required for the radio to function at all but it's so small you can just slip it into any pocket. Then thieves don't even bother with the car.
They have a tool that you can stick in those four holes on the sides and the entire radio will come out in your hand. The idea behind the removable buttons was to make it useless if you did that and stole it. Not that anybody ever stole the damn thing but it was protected
All you need is 2 pieces of wire... never had the special tool in the salvage yard and pulled many
@@kevinstoneburner8775 Four slim screwdrivers did the trick too.
@@nicoberna5463 Nails work too haha
My mum's 2001 Fiesta (UK) had that feature. We never bothered removing them though!
I had an 02 Focus with this exact interior. I had no idea that existed. but then again, I swapped out the radio for a bluetooth one
Yes my first car!! Missed my 2000 blue ford focus❤😢
This was quite common in Europe during the 90s. The buttons were coded to the radio and couldn't be used separately at all. It was meant to be a simple anti theft device and it was working pretty well.
Youre the only 1 just learning about this😊
Nobody was ever stealing these. They fixed a problem that didn't exist.
All radios were stolen from time to time no one was exempt from the thieves . Well it's good to know maybe I will check next time I'm shopping for a vehicle . 73
Nobody ever stolen the shitty stock radio from a car 😂
My father's '99 Mondeo Wagon had that too so this is nothing new to me. Me and my sister loved that car to bits since it was there for most of our childhood
Before the detachable face for anti-theft, the entire unit was designed to pull out. Back in cassette vs 8 track days it was a loveable feature allowing multiple formats easily interchanged.
This sort of thing dates back to the 1930s.
Yeah I remember everyone flexing these when they were a thing 😂 and “radio fascia’s” to stop people stealing the whole unit it was a big thing in the 90’s/00’s
I know ppl who still take the face plate when they get out of the car lmao
why
Today the stock radio is usually coded to the car, so no code or security panel is required. The radio usually even have extra security features, like, to eject the disc, the immobilizer had to send a disc unlock code to the radio, meaning you actually had to start the car so the car key would "authenticate" to the immobilizer.
This also means, theres no radio code either. If your radio is broken, and you buy a radio on the scrapyard, you have to bring the scrap title document to a authorized dealer, which will use the computer to "de-associate" the radio from the scrapped car, and then "re-associate" the radio with your car, and then it will work again.
not sure if i saw the buttons, but back in the 90's it was very common to have a piece of the stereo face you take with you as anti-theft mesasure.
Yes it was made like that for two reasons. 1) it helped us gain access to the electronic programming section. And 2 it made the radio useless if stolen. It was an after, after thought. There was a bit of a hiccup in the dash design. Ford partnered with Kia, I do believe and out came this lovely radio.
It was in every Ford in the UK in the late '90s and early 2000s
I had a T reg Mondeo with similar radio. When I replaced the battery that was the end of me listening to the radio. I had no idea what the code was
@@Alan_GA yeah a annoying feature
Back in 2002 this thing had a big problem reading copied cd's. Replaced it with a fancy jvc that could read mp3 files from cd. No usb flash drive back then
My late grandpa used to have a 2000 ford focus and it had an aftermarket pioneer radio in it but when i found the factory radio in the garage I learned about it and I thought it was pretty cool. I still have the original radio out of it to this day but the car itself has since been sent to the crusher.
If it looks just like that one then I could use it.
My dad has this in his Mondeo circa 2000. Back then most radios had removable entire front panel, but carrying that around was not really comfortable, so for came up with buttons (coded to one particular radio).
We had similar in my grandfathers Mondeo and i once took it home as a joke. He was not happy.
He`s cut you out of his will?
Detachable buttons was a standard 90s anti-theft measure. It was in the brochure at the time too
In the early eighties it was the Pioneer Super Tuner lot of ACDC and Rolling Stones played to those coaxial speakers❤❤
I had a non factory car stereo with detachable buttons long ago, now i have one with removable front panel which is pretty old. Back in the 80´s it was common having the whole stereo in a cassette that you removed at least here in Sweden, i had that myself back then.
They started using that in the late 90's my dad had 99 cougar that did that.
There was actually a product sold years ago that looked like your radio / cd player was already stolen. It was a panel that had cut wires coming from it that you placed over that area.
Got it in my 1998 Mondeo, so about 25 years of knowledgre....
Got one in a 1996 Scorpio
I owned a 2002 Ford Focus SVT with the Audiophile system with steering column mounted radio controls. The head unit was a AM/FM 6 disc in-dash CD changer with a similar anti-theft device. After a while I installed an aftermarket head unit in my vehicle.
1 & 6 didnt get the memo
Terrible design
Seeing that interior really brought back memories for me; I had a 2001 ZTS with that radio feature. I used to remove it before leaving it at the airport, not that anyone was likely to steal it. Now I have a car that doesn't even have a head unit ...
Leave it to Ford to design an anti-theft feature on a part no one would ever want to take.
This was from when detachable face radios were popular. I had them in the 90s, it was to prevent scum from stealing your radio. They usually came with a case for the detachable part.
Yeah they did that because depending on who the manufacturer of the factory radio was
i have never seen or heard of that before. usually it’s the entire faceplate that’s removable for security but that’s a new one for me.
All EUDM 90's Fords equipped with Dolby RDS radios had these
My mom's Focus had that. Car was awful.
I don't know about the US but car radio theft was a thing in the UK. Removal of the front of the radio unit is a good anti theft method as those front facias/buttons (in this case) as they were coded to their counterpart.
I never heard of that before
Yes, there was a little plastic box for it too with a pocket clip so you could carry it in your jacket pocket too. I had a Mondeo with it in '98 for work.
I used to have a radio in my 93 Saturn SC, that the whole front plate would come off like that. However I have not seen that with just buttons 2-5, we learn a little bit each day!
Yes. All the original Ford radios had this in the Fiesta, Focus, Ka, Ikon, Bantam (a small pick up in South Africa similar to the Courier pick up in Brazil). May be even in the Mondeo and Escort.
They worked with a unique security code.
I had this on my MK1 focus and I also driven a Ford Transit for work which had the same button panel which you could remove. There was a difference though. The Focus radio had electrical contacts as featured in this video but the Transit just had little rods that pushed through from the removable panels buttons with an interlock switch that would allow you to turn on the radio once the removable panel was in place. You could just insert a paper clip in and the radio would power on and use a biro to push the missing buttons.
I had a head unit made by LA SOUND that had the middle buttons removable, which disabled the stereo from working. Cool feature back in the day and much more convenient than lugging around a pull-out!
Yes, in EU radios were with detachable displays and/or buttons to prevent thieves to stole them, if they stole it they can't use it/sell it without the screen or/and buttons.
Ooooh that brings back memories. I think Fiestas had the same radios back in the 90s, as well.
Lots of manufacturers had factory fitted head units with removable panels. My Alfa had one (although it was really a Philips unit with Alfa Romeo branding). Became less common as they went from standard single DIN head units to the more bespoke ones. Some of the manufacturers tried other deterrents such as full or partial covers.
Note in the comments that a lot of fortunate people lived in areas where the factory fitted ones weren’t stolen, but the higher end Ford stereos were targeted, at least near me, presumably to fit in the lower end models.
I learnt that when I bought mine 2 years ago. I also swapped out the entire unit with a Sony Bluetooth unit. As the buttons also caused the unit to play up while driving.
Yes its a anti theft design to stop car radio thives from stealing and dealing.
Now in the UK they just steal the whole car. And the Ford fiesta is the most stolen.
My Dad’s 1999 Fiesta had this also, with a clip on the backside of the buttons so you could clip it to you like a pen. I think all Fords of this generation had these radios, 3000 series up to 6000 series I believe they were called. The sound from them wasn’t actually that bad for a stock radio
Yes back in late 90s rented a Ford Mondeo in Europe with exact same head unit… there was high rates of radio and even windshield wiper thefts in the areas we were visiting, so this gave us a slightly improved peace of mind.
The Ford 1000/5000/6000/6006 series radio all had removable panels. The 1000 series was slightly different as the volume buttons were removable rather than the radio channel presets.
She was an amazing woman who led an amazing life
Yep. I've seen this in Brazil, in the 90's fiesta and focus. And more, you can make it work without the detachable buttons using a paperclip as a jumper in 2 of those pins... Did it a lot. Regards from Brazil...
hello please help me as i need to learn this trick Immeditatly I bought the strip for the car but it has to be pushed in really hard for It to work so the strip is a no go which 2 pins do I have to bridge???
i had a 1994 ford escort gt. it had a removable kill switch under the dash stock that you could click onto your keys. talk about a 90’s gimmick. was actually kinda cool. lol.
I like that if the buttons wear out or break you can swap it out easy
And if you bridge the 1st two metal contacts on the radio with a piece of metal, the radio works.
Not true, my Honda I have a code which must be used if the radio or battery is disconnected.
If you wanna have your mind blown even more
The radio is somewhere else in the car that's just a control unit
And you can swap any other Ford factory control unit into there by just pulling out that one and plug in the new one.
I still don't understand the logic behind the removal buttons on a base model AMF FM CD player though
I could understand if it had the CD changer ....
common in UK, to prevent radio theft, most cars had it and after market stereos had it or fully removable head unit, full radio had a handle and pull unit out.
I noticed this the first time my grandfather first showed me his first gen Ford Focus, because nicking car stereos were fashionable, and by having part of the interface removable (or most had entire removable face plate) even if they got the working bit of the stereo, they'd need to get a compatible face plate (which I always just put in my bag at college during the day, as then the automotive students would be less motivated to nick my radio, as it was something done by people on basically the same course at a different college the year beforehand)
It's literally explained on the stereo user manual that should be found inside the glovebox, along with the car user manual and the maintenance record book.
You can also use two curved wire hangers in those 4 holes on each side to remove the whole radio in a few seconds.
Yep. Radio thefts were a real problem in the 80s and 90s
We had entire head unit's with handles that pulled out. Then face off units then these. We also had some that flipped around to cover the front.
Yes, and if you look below that plate,there is a stick with a handle,you can pull that rearward and it will male the car move!
I had that same car thought a different sub model. It had the exact same dash. It’s supposedly a step up from the detachable full frontal stereo face and way after the detachable full stereo units! If it’s detached, obviously the stereo is inoperable!
In the 90s it was radios, in the 00s it was airbags, in the 10s it was catalytic coverters, in the 20s it's entire cars.
Remember when you could buy an aftermarket radio that you could actually pull the whole radio out? I still have one. Not being used, but I still have it. Has a cassette player.
I think it was a remote to where you could change your stations instead of looking off at the radio and getting into an accident. But everyone knows about the detachable face plates that's nothing new. They still make them till this day. But if you know what your taking you can get a used or new one from the without a problem and go on with your new unit. I used to work in an audio store back in the day and I've seen that focus removable numbers. It was more for safty then anything.
This is very normal for the 1990s & early 2000s , like this 1st generation Ford Focus ... the same (or a very similar) radio was also in the 1990s Ford Fiesta ...
the right button unlocks this part even easier ( & as intended by Ford)
Removable radio panels are the evolution of radios that were pulled out from special slots. Instead of carrying 1kg, you could bring home 50g.
We had these car radios in U.K. Ford Cars in the late 90s-2000s
Yes-I knew about the detachable numbered plate-the radio wouldn’t work without it-this was a measure Ford introduced to deter theft of these radios from their vehicles !!
older Ford cassette units from the mid 90s also had detachable buttons, this was supposed to deter car stereo thieves
Yeah, back when i was a kid, we had a ford with those exact same buttons, we always had to hide it in the pocket on the back of the passenger seat because it would supposedly get stolen otherwise. Right now i have an older car where the entire lcd pannel including the buttons and volume wheel comes off if you want it to
Yes both my 2001 SE and SE Sport has the detachable faceplate/face buttons on the Blaupunk stereo. My 2003 had a totally different and more expensive sound system but didn't. Also whenever you put a new battery in you would need to know the code for that stereo as well. At least on mine we did
You're not the only one, but looks like you weren't around cars in the 90's. Stereo theft was very common so every aftermarket unit had detachable panel to prevent theft, sometimes i was the full panel some other just a portion like the keypad. Despite looking embedded in the dash this stereo is a normal "slot in" one, so it's easy to steal (notice the two pair of holes on the sides, it's were you plug the tool to detach it), mounting a detachable panel it's a wise choice
Yes. Our Maza 121 had the same from 1997. It was practically a Ford Fiesta.
I knew that as a kid playing with the stereo 😂
In the UK every single Ford had these radio's from the late 80 through to 00's.
I remember never understanding the point coz we all replaced them with desirable aftermarket Kenwood or JVC head unit's instead, which were actually likely to get stolen.
The really annoying thing was selling the car and taking out your own Kenwood head unit, back shelf 6x9's, door speakers, tweeters, Rockford Fosgate amp and 15 inch subwoofer, only to find you've forgotten the code for the crappy Ford radio, resulting in having to reduce the price coz there's holes on the parcel shelf and the new owner has to contact Ford to get the radio code to work. Lol!
I've actually still got my Rockford Fosgate punch bass amp in my shed.....
Depends on how old you are. In 80s /90s many cars were broken into and radios removed . Removing this part of course made them unusable . These were very common at one time.
Our Ford Mondeo had that exact radio here in the UK. Late 90s - early 2000s security feature.
Never heard of that before this is the first time seeing it… Interesting never knew