The 'Club' is radio-only (on the left, behind), the 'Trabant' is radio-cassette(recorder), with the possibility for car use (model on the front). I'm not entirely sure, but I think Siemens was using Blaupunkt for their radio/cassette range of models. The Trabant has a slot-in cassettemechanism which is not very common.
There was a few boomboxes with auto-style slide in transports, that might make a nice thread,most are very rare at least around here. I have at least one, the big Lasonic but can't think of any more off the top of my head.
I still think someone walked into the design floor and said "Hey, I've got 5000 car transports, the boss says you have to use them!" Lasonic, Conion, the first dual cassette deck around 78, Superscope are the few I can think of but digging out some of the obscure models might reveal more. Once the traditional piano-keyed models got popular most dropped out but Lasonic, Conion and maybe a few other Taiwan/Hong Kong Brands still threw them in going into the mid-80's.
That's certainly a plausible scenario. This slide-in design was quite popular in the 70s. Even the pre-TPS-L2 personal stereo cassette players used it, like the Astraltune. I also think they're nice decks. They're stable and very easy to keep working. Changing the belt is a breeze. I always like that
Don't forget Uher! I think some of the first models could be carried (with batteries) or plugged into your car dashboard. I consider that dropping sound, when the tape clicks in, to be iconic like a mechanical pinball rewinding or a fax machine logging on or a busy phone signal.
