I know that home 8 track recorders were around, but, IIRC, by the time they were starting to become common, cassettes were taking over in a big way.
Nowadays they steal the catalytic converter – They aren’t even locked inside the car.
Talking about 8-track players: my first fancy car stereo system (in 1976) was a Craig 8-track player (just the player, not a radio). The nice part about it was it could slide out of a holder, mostly so you could take it with you for theft prevention. You could buy spare holders that the player could slide into. I built a nice case for the spare holder, found a 12-volt power supply at Radio Shack, and presto, used the same 8-track player in my college dorm room.
G-d bless Radio Shack, it is no more. 
Radio Shack was an above-ground pool of Suck. Good riddance!
Tell me - now that Radio Shack is gone, where DO I find “radio/electronic” solder?
For kids interested in circuits - especially those circuits NOT on chips, where the Hell are they going to find tools/components/supplies?
Oh well, the Chinese can do it cheaper anyway, right?
Jobs and “the Woz” will not be replicated soon.
They sold electronic parts before they became a cell phone store.
Before the last one I knew off went out of business, I went to buy a 24 VCT transformer. The guy didn’t know what I was talking about.
Just the other day, I ran out of desoldering braid. It was a long drive to a place that had it. Didn’t want to wait for mail order.
The old Radio Shack (before they started cutting back on the hobbyist stuff) was something I went to almost monthly.
They sold electronic parts before they became a cell phone store.
Before the last one I knew off went out of business, I went to buy a 24 VCT transformer. The guy didn’t know what I was talking about.
How many here know what a “crystal radio” is? Hint: it used a cat’s whisker.
There’s a ton of stuff online, of course. Fry’s Electronics also has a very reasonable hobbyist electronics section. Better than RS ever had in the past 3 decades, at any rate.
Makerspaces are becoming more common by the year and they provide many of the basic tools.
Understand that people will steal anything. I knew a guy who’s house got broken into and they actually stole his deodorant…yes his used deodorant stick among other things of course. When I first started dating my wife, she had her dildo stolen from her closet.
And to top it off, I did have someone enter my car, pull everything out of my glove box, laid out carefully on the seat. Spare change gone, my empty lunchbox gone, the stock jack for the spare tire in the trunk gone and…yes this is stupid…my windshield wipers gone. Yes they took my freaking windshield wipers.
People will steal anything.
In 2008, someone caused a little over $200 in glass damage to my car in order to steal a generic single-disc CD player that had been purchased brand new for $99 in 2000.
I’ve never had a CD player or radio stolen from any of our cars… and that’s the way it’s staying.
Though having said that, we’ve kept with the stock radios/players as they have all been pretty good.
What if something fails and you need a part now?
There are still Radio Shacks around, but now they’re cell phone shops. Back in the 70s and 80s, Radio Shack had really decent car stereo stuff. Their speakers were fine. They were overpriced, but when they went on sale (which they did a couple times a year) they *really *went on sale. I assembled a couple of excellent-sounding car systems using Optimus speakers. Crutchfield is still with us, of course.
Again, Fry’s–if you have one near you. They’re few and far between outside of California, though. I needed a ULN2003A as a replacement for a fried one on a repair job. Fry’s had it–I can’t recall RS ever having the kind of selection that would make that happen.
Next best is Amazon next-day shipping. Not too bad if you have Prime.
I never heard of it until this thread. 
Just to clarify, they are talking about Fry’s Electronics, not Fry’s Food Stores. You might notice that until recently, they used virtually the same logos. Charles Fry owned the grocery store chain but then sold it (it has passed through several hands and now belongs to Krogers). He split the money with the kids who used their share to open the electronics stores.
there aren’t any Fry’s Electronics or Fry’s Food Stores where I live. I was aware of Fry’s Electronics because of where I’ve traveled, but they’re darn sure not ubiquitous.