That, plus a portable CD-MP3 player, was the bomb.

I still have my iRiver iMP-350, a portable CD player that could read mp3 and wma files off a CD-R or CD-RW, allowing way more than 74 or 80 minutes of audio. Damn thing still mostly works 22 years later too, thanks in large part to them including a 2x AA battery dongle in addition to the gumstick-shaped rechargeable batteries in the main unit which have long since leaked.

When they started selling head units with aux in ports, I had to have one in my car. And when they started putting iPod connectors in head units, perfection.