Peter Shirley isn't a newcomer to car audio. He started building systems at the age of 20 and now has six award-winning cars. When it came time to design the system for his '05 Ferrari F430 Spider, a vehicle intended for his own personal pleasure, he thought he'd try something different. "I thought the challenge of designing a system around an iPod in a convertible that could match the quality and exclusivity of the Ferrari name would present a great challenge," Shirley says. When he was ready to do the job, Shirley called up Rich's Car Tunes in Boston. "I gave them the guiding principles on what I wanted-some guidance on equipment and how it should be displayed-and let them run." And run they did.
First, there was the matter of a previously botched install. Shirley said that everything had to be fixed. "They did a terrible hack job on the car. The sub box was screwed into the car using sheetrock screws and one of them stuck through into the front, damaging the leather on the car seat. The wiring in the back looked like a 16-year-old's job. There were wires taped together without connectors." Needless to say, Rich's Car Tunes soon had it all corrected. They disassembled the interior entirely, as well as the compartment underhood. Doors were cleaned out in preparation for sound deadening, and pertinent leather was repaired.
Heart And Soul
The heart and soul of Shirley's system is, of course, his iPod. To match the vehicle, Shirley ordered a custom 80GB iPod from Colorware in Ferrari Red over Carbon Black. The iPod connects directly to the head unit, an Alpine iDA-X001, via a USB cable and stays hidden in the glovebox. "One of my goals," Shirley says, "was to be able to leave the car with the top down and not have anything visible that could be taken easily." Plus, having the iPod locked away makes for safer driving. Thankfully, the Alpine iDA-X001 was designed to be fully compatible with the iPod with menus that mirror Apple's popular little device. It was necessary for Car Tunes to create a new harness for the Alpine iDA-X001 because a previous installer mangled the factory one. The new custom harness was crafted to look as though Ferrari did it. Wiring was matched with Expando sleeving added for extra protection.
For clean and proper imaging in a convertible, Rich's Car Tunes dialed in an Alpine PXA-H701 processor controlled by an Alpine RUX-C701. Both are housed together underhood.
Dash: Fresh and clean is the order of the day for this F430 Spider's dash. An Alpine iDA-X001 head unit pulls songs from a custom Colorware 80GB iPod via a USB cable. The Alpine iDA-X001 is fully compatible with the iPod, complete with menus that mirror that of Apple's popular little device. A custom harness was created for the Alpine iDA-X001 because the previous harness was ruined by a prior install.