1986: COMPACT DISCS - The future of CAR NAVIGATION? | Top Gear | Retro Transport | BBC Archive

"You could put all the motorways, roads, towns and village streets of the whole of Britain on just one of these discs."
Top Gear's Chris Goffey drives a van around the Netherlands in order to demonstrate a thoroughly futuristic-looking car navigation system that harnesses the awesome power of CDs. Is it finally time to consign your old paper maps to the dustbin?
Originally broadcast 15 April, 1986.
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[@Rust_in_Time]

Nothing can compare to the “Cassette Of Tape” from the last video….

[@jaymac7203]

Directions on a tape, but only from one place 😭😂

[@rajapiro30]

Lol its amazing the difference between the videos!!

[@jacksdjfam]

Funny that the cassette of tape navigation never took off. Maybe because you'd need to tow along a caravan full of cassettes to cover the whole country maybe

[@Bcarr122391]

Ah, yes - you too fell into this rabbit hole.

[@bcob8989]

@@jaymac7203 the best part is you’d have to get familiar with a route to custom make the directions for the cassette. At that point why do you need a route😂

[@vexion1754]

“In a car you won’t have a TV screen” “It’s too distracting” Aged well

[@ogorekkiszony7236]

should have stayed that way. i want to go back.

[@ULHIS]

​@@ogorekkiszony7236buy an old car.

[@guesswho2778]

@@ogorekkiszony7236 you can get rid of yours

[@isaacsrandomvideos667]

I don’t know how cars can have all these “pedestrian safety features” essentially ruining the look of most cars, but it’s fine to have what is essentially a half scale tv smack in the middle of your dash which HAS to cause more crashes and damage since it distracts drivers, especially considering they are never centered towards the driver.

[@RobSchofield]

I worked on this (CarIn) in Eindhoven back in 1988 - what a nostalgia trip seeing Eindhoven's streets as they were!

[@regnam503]

This seems pretty interesting from an actual employee. You should consider recording your recollections on video or writing an article/book. I’m a software developer and it saddens me to realize that a lot of interesting tech just gets forgotten. First-hand postmortems from team members can actually teach us something new.

[@realhawaii5o]

Dead reckoning compact disk navigation systems truly ARE the future. This is so much better than our current cassette tape technology because it accounts for deviations and re-routing. I can't think of any technology to ever outdo this.

[@oddholstensson212]

There is some truth there. There are professional implementations that use dead reckoning along with GPS to obtain high accuracy navigation in closed spaces as tunnels etc. Ublox have chipsets which can use actuator and odometer inputs, as well as inertia navigation, to get high prescision in closed spaces.

[@PeteCswampy]

you have failed to mention ticker tape, huge spools spilling from the dash, helping you not to crash but to press on to your final destination. years ahead of it's time.

[@spacemonkey9257]

I just ate a really good chicken and sweet corn chowder

[@pupface]

Google maps got me stuck in traffic last week and I'm fed up with it. I'd quite like to try this new system showcased here. Hope it's available soon.

[@Stefan-]

Seems you will have to wait until 1988...

[@paulmiller591]

How you fit the CD player and computer in your car it looks very big? I would love to have this feature in my Cortina. I wonder if the computer will be able to run Lotus 123 so I can do my home accounts as well that would be cool.

[@greenbunnyinabongo7299]

My first vehicle ( a 1979 Vauxhall Chevanne ) came with a local retired taxi driver gagged and bound in the back, and for a sandwich and a drop of water, he’d direct me to wherever I needed to go ( and with great accuracy I might add )

[@benadamsondxb]

Not sarf of the riva though, surely? Don't go sarf, mate.

[@Markcain268]

Looks quite modern with that horrendous screen hanging off the dashboard!

[@phrtao]

That's what I thought. In an accident you don't really want a Cathode-ray tube flying at you from the dashboard

[@2wheels42]

😂😂😂

[@Sython6]

Reminds me of Total Recall.

[@solinus7131]

@@phrtao 2:33 They did state that Philips thinks having a TV is too much of a distraction

[@jellybaby7]

'let's see how this system works' - choked on me coffee ☕ when he revealed that humungus thing - left no room for the wife

[@Ass_Burgers_Syndrome]

Me too I was like HOLY FOOK!!

[@DJ-jv2gk]

That's the bonus part

[@davidjames579]

Every Cloud.....

[@jeshkam]

@@Ass_Burgers_Syndrome Wee Tu Lo

[@drankfrebin]

I'd love to have that van nowadays, timeless

[@JJVernig]

Probably chosen not to move to fast to prevent the system from overloading 😉. In reailty they needed the place to get all the stuff in. And also the place to showcase is...

[@tdoran616]

It would be outdated because of all the new roads and old roads paved over for pedestrians or housing

[@drankfrebin]

@@tdoran616 (van)

[@tdoran616]

@@drankfrebin I thought the cassette GPS was built into the van?

[@drankfrebin]

@@tdoran616 I meant the van, lay off the crack dude. It's melting your brain

[@pjcnet]

I remember software released in 1988 called AutoRoute by NextBase that would just calculate a driving route from A to B with the option of printing it, that was it, but it was super popular and was followed by many others until we got sat navs.

[@peterjszerszen]

The CD-based units just like this were a real thing for a brief blip in time! (Although probably 20 years after this was made). I have a (US) 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid that came from the factory in 2004 with CD-based GPS and it came with a binder of discs, 6 for the whole country and you had to change out the discs if you were traveling long distance. The head unit had two disc drives (one for a music CD and the other for a GPS CD) but they somehow shared the same slot and there was an additional 6 (music) disc changer under the seat. The screen was color but no more than 3" in size. I've long since replaced all of that and modernized it with an Android-based system, but man was that something for 2004. It was also CANbus enabled (which itself was cutting edge then) and displayed info about the hybrid electric system. It's interesting how they managed to fit all of Britain on a single disc but I suppose the US is much larger with more roads, hence the binder of 6 discs. The original 2004 battery still works just fine even though she has 255,000mi/410,000km on the clock and has been loved and cared for, Ford built some good cutting edge stuff back then.

[@AttilaSVK]

It was a thing even before that. My '98 Volvo V70 had an optional sat nav (not in my car, unfortunately), which took CDs. The CD drive was in the glovebox, the main electronics were behind and kind of under the radio, and the flip-up LCD was on the top of the dashboard cover, in the middle. One downside was that it couldn't be ordered together with a Dolby Surround option, because the center speaker took up the place of the LCD, and the surround sound decoder was mounted to the same place, where the sat nav computer would be. All in all, the Dolby system aged better, since it can be still used :)

[@spr00sem00se]

2004! I had TomTom on my phone by then.

[@johnmcgovern5372]

@@spr00sem00se That's impressive. Tom Tom only released their first sat-nav unit in 2004 and the smartphone wasn't a thing for another 6 or 7 years....

[@spr00sem00se]

@@johnmcgovern5372 I had an SPV c500 with tomtom moile on it. It had a bluetooth gps receiver, it was absoluetly crazy good at the time. I had doom and Ferris buelers day off on my phone, and MSN messenger. things taken for granted now

[@control177]

i have a 2006 volvo xc70 with a cd based gps navigation system, looking at ripping out the old navigation system and useing the screen for an android based replacement

[@GalootWrangler]

The roads looked nicer on vinyl.

[@jacksdjfam]

And you could have a DJ with you mixing up the routes

[@TheTruthKiwi]

Lol!

[@William.Bannatyne]

Sounded better to

[@dtmt502]

said the Hipster

[@Sasoon2006]

Year 2001 is closer to this Top Gear episode, than to today... 😆

[@darkalligator]

I want the 29" version

[@theshadowman1398]

When I saw that massive crt screen slabbed on the dashboard I immediately thought how lucky we are now

[@Leftplayer1]

Yeah, instead of a massive crt screen slabbed on the dashboard, we now have a massive lcd screen slabbed on the dashboard. Progress

[@theshadowman1398]

@@Leftplayer1 I refer to CRT in general. I hate screens in cars period, It’s a car not a desktop computer

[@letsgoballistic]

Funnily enough, my first car was a battered old 2001 volvo S60 which did indeed have a CD operated satnav.

[@ThisaraGamalath]

Yours is different because it still used gps satellites. The system in this video had to use the car's odometer to figure out where it is

[@謝曉丹]

@@ThisaraGamalath He did say "satnav" tho, the "sat" doesn't stand for “Scholastic Aptitude Test” in that particular instance :D

[@houseofthemouse8218]

My mind crashed when he took away the map. 😂 That screen..

[@FcoDguez]

Notices from 2022: - No CD-player for new cars. - Screens are bigger than yours.

[@smokaduke2527]

It's cool. The video predicts the future quite accurately when he says that in the future these systems will be integrated into the onboard computers of cars. I don't like how sharp the edges of the shroud around the screen are - looks quite unsafe for the driver in the event of a crash.

[@roddymcniven8734]

He might not crash tho

[@Xerdoz]

It's just a prototype.

[@solidstate0]

Was thinking the same thing.. Imagine rocking up to the Emergency room having to have that Heathkit metal casing removed from your forehead. Ouch!

[@XXSkunkWorksXX]

My old 1996 BMW 750iL had a similar one of these. God that car had so much electronic wizardry for it's time and the smoothest V12. Loved that car.

[@zatozatoichi7920]

Mmm. The last generation of 'real' BMWs imo.

[@jorik41]

did a google apprently "1987 Toyota CD-ROM navigation system" dam philips did a good job to bad it was only japanees market. philips really paved the way for alot of modern tech in those times.

[@ChevyBM]

Now how cool is this navigation system :D

[@Zeebad_1st]

His son is the drummer in supergrass

[@swaneknoctic9555]

What has this got to do with this video?

[@Zeebad_1st]

@@swaneknoctic9555 I used sat nav to get to his house

[@colin1487]

@@swaneknoctic9555 Come on, there's no Time for Bad Blood here, Alright? It's now too Late In The Day for that. We're Not Supposed To make comments like that. It's like a Kick in the Teeth. Let's all be Beautiful People here Tonight. We don't want to see this Rebel in You, Swane - What Went Wrong (In Your Head)? Anyway Time To Go, and remember Jesus Came from Outta Space, Fin.

[@diond1333]

Cheers for that bit of trivia, Tim. That's one of the few things I like about the Internet.

[@Zeebad_1st]

@@diond1333 I also fitted his bedroom carpet, repaired one he messed up and he even drove my van down his drive and had an official Top Gear review of" I like these Toyota vans".

[@jondonnelly3]

Philips say a screen would be too much of a distraction. I agree.

[@themagicboy6548]

Broadcast in 1986, absolutely wild to me that the technology was there 36 years ago

[@the_real_hislordship]

I am a child of the 80s. We had Knight Rider with David Hasselhoff and Kitt with his GPS! Seriously though, seeing that technology in TV shows make us want it, and now we have it.

[@turboslag]

Ah, the days before GPS!! I still look at a map book before going any distance to an unfamliar place, I like to know the general route incase the sat nav tries any non preferred directions.

[@ajs41]

Why does the voice of the computer sound like Frankie Howerd?

[@Alexander-wx2ie]

Well this is better that the audiotapes with instruction from go to point A to point B

[@millenium2003]

Omg. I didn't know such thing existed. Kinda like Google maps

[@DigitalCyborgman]

I still use a printed MapQuest.

[@henkbinnenband3622]

cool driving through the netherlands

[@Rubensgardens.Skogsmuseum]

It would have been so cool to have one of those in my work car.

[@jacksdjfam]

Looks great if you're happy to have a tower pc on your dashboard

[@pqrstzxerty1296]

0:54 Nice CRT on the dashboard.

[@kappaslapper14]

For once it feels good to be in "their" future 😁

[@Kimbrough87]

Yeah but one day we will be in the past 😂AkA. Dead and Forever Forgotten

[@alyx6427]

i’ve grown up with google maps and phones so this is a very weird concept in comparison lmao

[@bonesshed.]

Yes. I look back on the map days and wonder how I ever got anywhere ! I used to have a route written down on A4 with every turn etc in front of me. Kids these days have got it too easy 😁

[@BungleBare]

I had a 2009 Jaguar X-type a few years ago with a built-in Sat-nav. Although it stored the maps in its memory and double-checked your position via a satellite, the system was basically this one. It was just incorporated into the “entertainment system” (also known as the car stereo). Updates were even loaded into it by CD-Rom. Everything panned out as Philips predicted, save for the addition of GPS. Just 13 years later such systems are virtually redundant, of course - smartphones do the same thing both in the car and when you’re on foot, and the maps are constantly updated (negating the need for the CD-Rom updates).

[@McSeahorse]

I hired a Merc a while back with an audio nav system. You phoned an operator and told her your vehicle details and destination, and Presto! The car nagged you all the way home. 😂

[@SimirJohnson]

I got married which produced similar results.

[@winandd8649]

Driving through the city of Geldrop, NL ...

[@Jenairaslebol27merde]

it was in the mid 90's when bmw finally introduced the first (or maybe one of the first) navigation systems with a moving map, CD data base and gps in their new 7 series cars, i believe.

[@xeong5]

That was Toyota in 1987.

[@Jenairaslebol27merde]

@@xeong5 omg.. true!! didn't know about that.. just looked it up... ok maybe not gps but CD-ROM and colour CRT .. amazing! thanks :)

[@pjcnet]

Back in those days drivers learnt the roads and paid close attention to the road signs in unfamiliar areas. Good drivers would plan an unfamiliar or long journey beforehand, but if necessary you'd pull over in a safe place and review the map. For travel news we'd rely entirely upon either luck or the radio might inform you of places to avoid in time if you are lucky. We all still got from A to B, usually without issue. Now virtually all drivers today are totally reliant on sat navs, they don't learn the routes and would be completely lost without them.

[@GeorgeZacharopoulos]

"You have deviated from your destination" The OG Karen

[@sirkastic]

1:19 I wish all Karen's could be switched off just by ejecting a CD

[@resolecca]

This is so much more useful GPS than the "cas-sette of tapes" but to name it Karen though, it must be the world's only helpful Karen 🤣🤣🤣

[@vornamenachname5589]

The real name was CARIN what stands for Car Information and Navigation

[@TomatoTomato911]

decades later, high end automobiles now use simple projector like the led shown in this video to show direction on the projector hud. shows how people are willing to roll back to inferior setups just for more convenience. same as when ssd was first adapted people are ok with the small capacity in favor of faster read/write speed. like how phone makers keep downsizing their phones until smartphone came up and now bigger = better.

[@heresjohnny602]

Shorter and more efficient routing systems don't work when everyone is recommended the same route.

[@notmenotme614]

This was a good prediction

[@TheTruthKiwi]

Holee, man's rocking a whole pc as his navi. Wonder if he could play pong at the lights

[@bondbug73]

My first impression was a cash machine.

[@changkwangoh]

I love the navigation. Until now, my car has a legit navigation and not apps.

[@OrchidBangladesh]

impressive almost work like modern navigation system

[@nothereforit.605]

I always see this and wonder if there exists a company or even a country that jumped onto this technology way to quickly and lost thousand or millions after they became obsolete in less then a decade. Imagine buying all the necessary systems for the cassette navigator only to have the CD one come out. Or you outfit your offices with the latest telephone and typewriter technology and then comes computers and printers. There has got to be a company or country that just when they finished upgrading, within a year, everything that was just a prototype or experiment comes to the market and they don’t have the money to keep up.

[@simonbone]

The idea for satellite navigation was already well known in the 1970s. It required several existing technologies to be refined and made affordable, but the principle, at least, was simple enough (and with the extra bonus of the US military releasing GPS for civilian use). I remember seeing this outlined in a book published circa 1982 that also predicted these systems using the then-forthcoming CDs, which were the first easily reproducible consumer format to be able to store large amounts of digital data that could be accessed quickly, but the computing power available then wouldn't have been able to do much.

[@prestoncheapbtheadphoneste3010]

0:30 well, he won’t get far! His back tire is flat.

[@Tbird761]

The screen might be too much of a distraction. Hello from the distant world of we did it anyway!

[@DissociatedWomenIncorporated]

It’ll never catch on.

[@Gus-jb8cm]

I agree, the first time I used one, a donation Tom Tom sent me into a dead end then a river!!!

[@rscosworthfan]

i remember this episode

[@LDTV22OfficialChannel]

Nowadays, we have phones taking over, but CDs are still practical and functional enough if they should be used.

[@empathizers]

Philips ❤- innovation and you!

[@curtisj2165]

Wow, the size of that infotainment screen

[@badmutherfunster]

Nah, this new fangled technology will never catch on. Next he will say you can navigate by satellite the crazy man😆

[@albatrossboss4639]

Cool! Can't wait for this to come out! Finally I won't have to use a massive map!

[@southlondon86]

“You have deviated from the planned route”

[@H76Pro]

I could not afford a GPS system back in the day but now I have it in my pocket thanks the wonder of smart phones!

[@ThePancakeJedi]

Why on earth would I want this monstrosity in my car when I have a phone?

[@jefftucker201]

Jesus, you need a Van just to have one! lol

[@twocvbloke]

An on board computer device that gives you directions? What utter dreams they had back then of the future, oh, wait, never mind... :P

[@the_real_hislordship]

🤣🤣🤣🤣 The size of that screen! Must use a lot of power. Now if you search for 80s music on KZbin you often find people saying how the 80s were so much better. No they weren't, and this video proves it!

[@Steph.98114]

When you turn it off I bet you gain an extra 50hsp

[@the_real_hislordship]

@@Steph.98114 😂😂😂

[@krashd]

People look into the past with rose-tinted glasses but the moment they developed something like cancer they would be begging for 21st century medicine.

[@caloricphlogistonandthelum4008]

Sh*t! I remember CDs doing this!!!! I'm so old!

[@davidjames579]

A Sat Nav called Karen, this is priceless!

[@bassanup]

Father of

[@res1tah71]

I still use this in my car

[@RWBHere]

See! It can be done without GPS. 😉 It would soon fall flat if roads were added or changed. Thanks for this video.

[@topdrives2074]

Miss old day

[@metalizmstudio9713]

grandfather of google maps...

[@Bryan-od7nv]

I don’t remember disc’s being around in 1986. Though I was only 10 and not much into music at that age. I do remember 5 inch floppy disc’s and a mad game of Oregon Trail every week in school.

[@Stefan-]

Compact disc was released in 1982, CD-ROMs were probably pretty experimental in 1986 though, this was developed by Philips which was one of the creators of the CD so they would have been at the cutting edge of that technology.

[@the_real_hislordship]

What? I'm from South Africa and in 1988 I got my first CD player at the age of 8. You must have had them? Edit: remember SA was under sanctions back then. So it's amazing we had these things as it is.

[@krashd]

@@the_real_hislordship 1988 comes after both 1986 _and_ 1982.

[@the_real_hislordship]

@@krashd did you read the bit about me coming from South Africa? We always got things well after everyone else AND we had sanctions remember?

[@benji.B-side]

GPS DOS styleeeeeee!

[@2Sorts]

You have to remember that all this done without the use of GPS - that wasn’t even a thing for another 10yrs, and even then it was only for military use.

[@malcolmcowan9554]

That system didn't come till late 90s

[@mark-horgan]

TomTom from the Netherlands were one of the first to provide it in Europe. I wonder if there was any connection to Philips. I remember using their maps in Europe on a smartphone in the early noughties.

[@straightpipediesel]

@@mark-horgan Philips was the major provider of factory nav systems in the late 90's to many manufacturers like Rover, BMW, Ford and GM. They even kept the same Carin name and color scheme. They owned the map provider Navteq until they exited the entire market in the mid-2000s.

[@ajs41]

We were using a handheld GPS device to help navigate us around by car from 1994 onwards.

[@Design_no]

How long will I have to wait for this? I want it now!

[@irishmikey]

Ah if only we got Karen, shouting at us that you took the wrong route and I want to speak to your driving manager. Instead though we just got some bloke with two same names Tom Tom. I do love that Phillips thought screens would be a distraction in cars. Won't be long until they just replace windscreens with giant LCDs and a camera to view outside. I know they do this on planes cause it cuts costs compared to airplane windows. You just know they will do it for cars cause screens break and it will cost more money to fix. Planned obsolescence of course.

[@leonkernan]

Prototype Tesla Model 3 screen right there.

[@AndreiTupolev]

You certainly wouldn't argue with which way Karen told you to go.

[@WujiErTaiji]

Not sure if I let a Carin tell me what to do.

[@dannydougin3925]

Handsome host...

[@88gdb]

Couldnt see this catching on

[@kneel1]

probably STILL was less frustrating than Google maps

[@lagibizar]

Didn't Honda (with others) develop a car navigation system on a screen in the dashboard, in the early 80s? It didn't use satellite either.

[@timdickson5531]

Yes, it was an inertial navigation system using gyroscopes

[@jaydunstan1618]

I wonder how many laybys that system led truckers to?

[@112chapters3]

Like @ fewish years later…. Literally cars had it… the German machines 100percent great show. It’s cool as fk.

[@stevenlewis9234]

Still looks better than my old Garmin.

[@TheMusicianTom]

My 2011 Honda CR-V had a CD sat nav.

[@gravinvankippenbout9266]

This seems as far-fetched as using one of those 'cordless telephones' I've been hearing about, or one of those boxes that warms up your meal by using radio waves..... dream on people!

[@simonbone]

Cordless landline phones and microwave ovens were already in widespread use in 1986.

[@nickjoe5863]

I wish there was a way to have this thing fit in my pocket

[@captainchaos3667]

What was that very large, square sheet of material he was holding in the beginning? That looked like promising technology!

[@Dico6]

They got the screen size right, it went backwards from then on I guess.

[@breakingaustin]

Ahh Karen. From helping drivers to throwing coffee over employees.

[@user-kk4zw5jo4t]

Me me I'm a CD sat-nav man! 😀

[@chaddanylak8706]

my 2008 honda use a satnav CD

[@NAEEMMYIESHAKHAN]

All of Britain on one disc? Wow! Sounds amazing. Can't wait 😂

[@Ellarian_Liara]

Britain isn't that big

[@handsoffmycactus2958]

@@Ellarian_Liara it feels it when you live here.

[@lukemitchell1975]

Now u just type on fone