It's funny that someone should post about this, becuase I literally just won the equivalent stand-alone VTR in an auction... the Ampex VR-660!
2" quad tape [B&W recording], speed is 3.75 ips, and can accomodate up to 12" reels (almost 5 hours of recording time!)
And did I mention that it weighs 130 lbs....?
I'd love to run across an actual tape that was recorded on one of these... considering that the machine was introduced in 1963, there's a lot of stuff that could be on it!
Oh-- and here's a pic of one...!
-Kevin