If I want tunes in the Imperial the current radio has to go. There are several ways to do this.
The cleanest approach would be to get another 1963 Imperial radio. A working one one be expensive. And this still leaves you with 60+ year old technology and components.
Since this is a common problem there are companies that take the old factory radios and replace the electronics inside with new technology. There is a fairly small board available that contains all of the electronics for a modern radio and replaces the factory pieces. The factory knobs and display are retained. The result is a completely stock appearance with new technology – including Bluetooth and USB. This is tempting. Unfortunately the current radio is too badly damaged for them to work with. I would have to get another 1963 Imperial radio to send to them for conversion. Which would get expensive quickly.
One popular approach in classic cars is to simply add a new radio. Many people hide the new radio, commonly in the glove compartment or under a seat. You also see them hung under the dash.
I’ve been seriously considering building a center console that would include a radio, cupholders, at least one USB power point, and perhaps some additional gauges. I’m confident enough in my sewing and fabrication skills to be comfortable tackling this job. The biggest downside is that it would reduce the capacity of the car from six people to five people. But this isn’t really a big deal.
Finally, you can install a new radio in place of the factory radio. In many cases this is easy: You can find a radio that fits the stock cutout. My 1976 Datsun 280Z used DIN mounting which made this a slip-in fit. Or you can enlarge the stock cutout to fit like I did in a 1968 F-350.
A common theme is that these vehicles had a flat surface where the radio fit. You could do whatever hackery was needed to make the radio fit and then hide the evidence behind a radio faceplate.
Of course the Imperial is special. The radio is a non-standard size. And the dash is tightly curved where the radio fits. No modern radio will fit without ugly dashboard surgery.
I chose the Imperial because of its character. Throughout the restoration I’ve tried to make functional upgrades without changing the appearance of the car. To include modern technology as invisibly as possible.
Any radio upgrades should preserve both factory appearance and provide decent ergonomics. Appearance rules out hanging a radio under the dash. Ergonomics rules out a radio in the glove compartment or under the seat. Economics makes doing anything with the factory radio a challenge.
What to do, what to do….