This Reimagined Vintage Radio Is Gorgeous

“They just don’t make ‘em like they used to,” your opinionated uncle proclaims during your family’s holiday dinner. You know the validity of that statement is questionable, as they made plenty of junk in the past, too — we just don’t see that junk, as it all ended up in landfills. But a lot of what they used to make certainly has aesthetic appeal, which is why Distracted by Design rebuilt a vintage radio into something functional and gorgeous.

The radio in question is a General Electric model from the early 1980s, which Distracted by Design found at a thrift store. That was typical for the era: a simple AM/FM radio with adjustment for frequency and volume. AM and FM radio still exist today, but most of us would rather stream music from our smartphones. For this project, Distracted by Design converted the radio into a Bluetooth speaker and upgraded the appearance along the way.

To simplify the conversion, Distracted by Design removed the original electronic guts and replaced them with the innards from an inexpensive mass-produced Bluetooth speaker. Fitting the new parts required some cutting, trimming, 3D-printing, and CNC-milling.

That would have been functional on its own, but Distracted by Design went a step further and replaced many of the enclosure parts with more attractive custom-fabricated alternatives. Distracted by Design made heavy use of a Makera Carvera Air CNC mill for those parts, which were made of materials like wood and aluminum.

The reimaged radio looks phenomenal, combining retro ‘80s charm with modern details. Distracted by Design even made an era-appropriate ad poster for the new radio.