Early all-transistor car radios
 

Hello everyone,

I had thought for many years that the first all-transistor car radios were
in some top-of-the-line 1957 Cadillacs, but according to this page Chrysler
had something similar one year earlier. Very interesting reading!

http://www.allpar.com/stereo/Philco/

I think our first all-transistor was in either my parents' 1962 Meteor or their 1964 Impala...

That '64 Chevy would definitely be all-transistor, not sure about the '62
Mercury. Then another question might come up: when did they finally
switch to all silicon devices? Germanium units had a number of things
going for them (proven manufacturing processes for instance).

I restored a radio from a friends '58 Cadillac a few years ago, and it was all tube. I thought it rather odd because I am certain that the stock radio for '57 Chevy's have a transistor audio output.

I had a '62 Cadillac and a '62 Ford a few years ago, and while I didn't have to do any radio repairs, I do remember them having to warm up.

The '57 Chevy had three different radios available that year. The TOTL radio was a two unit radio, simular to the '56 model, that had push-pull 12V6's and a vibrator power supply.
The basic manual tuned radio had a vibrator power supply and a S.E 12V6 output stage.
The Third model available was a push button, five tube with a transistor output stage and space-charged tubes.
The other GM divisions did about the same, IIRC. :scratch2:

Not sure when they switched but I used to have a '66 Buick with an AM Delco that had germanium transistors. Chrysler started making their own radios about 1971 and they all were silicon. I would guess it was somewhere between those years and probably varied by maker. That '66 Buick with the Delco had beautiful sound.

Also in 1956 Chrysler offered the Highway Hi-Fi. That was the first car record player. It was developed by Peter Goldmark at CBS and was the first use of 16 2/3 speed records. The records came from a special Columbia catalog. Those units were very troublesome and Chrysler had a lot of problems with them. Then in 1959, RCA developed a 45 player for Chrysler. I'm sure they jumped at the chance to show up CBS again. Chrysler only offered those until '61, but they were available aftermarket until at least '64.

I had a Motorola all-transistor unit in my '59 Oldsmobile. Strangely enough, I was given 3 big boxes of car radios about 2 hours ago...the oldest has "1956 Mercury" written on it in marker, plus some really interesting ones, a Motorola, and a Pianola, along with a few Chrysler offerings.

Had a 60 Olds with non-Motorola transister. Did not have preset pushbuttons. Car was a rare factory stick, though.

Had a '64 Vette with all transistor AM and FM radio... when did FM car radios first hit the market?

jr

I know Cadillac had an optional AM/FM radio in 63. All transistor. My 62 caddy had a hybrid AM radio.

For Chevrolet, FM was definitely not available in 1962, I believe it was
in 1963, but maybe only in the spring of that year.

In my Beitmans car radio manual, it showed several models of AM-FM radios, built by Delco. All solid state. Starting for the 1963 model year.
What struck me as strange, they made them for the big three, as well as Studebaker. Great performing radios.
Bendix and Motorola came out a little later.

Yup here is an ad philco did in 55'

PHILCO TRANSISTOR CAR RADIO COMMERCIAL - 1955
http://youtu.be/OiSkp8Ut_aQ

I remember years ago, Broadcasting magazine would at the start of each model year, quoted Delco's unit cost for AM and AM/FM radios. I recall that in the mid-70's, the AM's cost $8 each and the AM/FM's cost $12...

Ok, it took some digging, but I think I found the history of FM car radios. In 1952 Blaupunkt made an FM only in-dash tube radio in Europe. This radio was later offered as a factory option by Porsche. In 1953 Becker began making AM/FM in-dash tube radios for Mercedes-Benz.

In the US, in late 1957 Lincoln offered an "FM Tuner Option" for its 1958 cars. This was a Bendix built all tube, floor mounted tuner. It also had foot controls.

In 1959 Motorola came out with the aftermarket FM900 tuner that was a hybrid and was all under-dash. It used the AM radio's amp. In their annual report, Motorola claimed they were, "the first major American company to mass produce an FM car radio." Apparently they didn't think Bendix was a major American company.

In late 1962, for the '63 model year, both GM and Ford offered all transistor in-dash mono AM/FM radios. GM's Delcos were available in full size cars and Corvettes, and Cadillac offered an add on multiplex unit. Ford's was Bendix built and available in full size cars and Thunderbirds.

Chrysler offered the Delco radios in their '64 Chryslers and Imperials. Dodge and Plymouth did get them until '65.

So, as Paul Harvey used to say... now you know the rest of the story!

Cool ! Thanks for the info... I remember seeing some of the tube powered Becker radios, but I think the ones that I saw just had MW, LW and SW bands.

jr

I wonder if the Black Beauty would have had a Delco radio originally. Same body style as the '64. Never heard of those in anything other than GM vehicles before.

I want to say the radio in our '62 Pontiac was tube, but was definitely transistor in our '64 Bonneville.
That one had 6x9's on the rear deck and it sounded great!

If it was the AM/FM option it would have been. If it was one of the AM radios it was probably Motorola. Chrysler didn't start making their own radios until 1971. They got Saginaw power steering units from GM for a lot of years too.

No way to know without a Marti report for each car I guess. The radios were removed and custom block-off plates installed. The only difference I'm aware of between the cars, aside from slight variances in customization, is that the main car has Tilt-a-Scope steering and the backup car a non-tilt column.

My '82 Dodge Ramcharger had a Saginaw steering unit and it leaked like a sieve. I owned several MoPars prior to that one and never had one that leaked. I don't know who made the units in the earlier models.
Some early '70s MoPars used radios built by Philips of Canada.

Wow. It seems that I remember radios being an expensive option in cars in the late 70s or early 80s. I know for my '83 Dodge Shelby Charger, which was early in the move to decent factory car stereos, the basic AM/FM stereo radio was something like a $109 option. That is what was on the sticker. What they had installed, though, was the top-of-the-line digital AM/FM/auto-reverse cassette deck with Dolby noise reduction. THAT was supposed to be about a $450 option.

With GM, the Cadillacs got optional FM/AM radios in 1963, Buick and Oldsmobile also got FM/AM available optionally in 1963. Chevrolet didn't get FM available until 1965. I figure Pontiac got FM optionally when Chevrolet did.

I believe that FM/AM was an option in '63 Corvettes as well.

jr

Chrysler was the first with the Transistor radio in 1956, yes, 1963 Corvettes had optional AM/FM radios.

The Philco built all transistor radio first appeared in the 1957 Chrysler 300.
They only offered them for a year, as they were problematic. The next year they were using Bendix hybrids.
Dodge and Desoto used Motorola, where Plymouth used Philco and Motorola.
Philco was pretty much out of the picture after the 1958 model year.

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying here... lots of Ford radios in the 60s and 70s had the name Philco on the dial. My 1975 Ford AM-FM 8-track stereos are so labeled.

The statement was made regarding radios in Chrysler products!
I'm well aware of the fact that Ford used Philco built radios and other electronics in their cars. They bought Philco in 1962.
Philco radios, first started appearing in Ford products, around the 1965 model year. :yes:

I remember a friend had an early 70's Chrysler product that had AM only with stereo 8 track. :wtf:

There was an AM/FM 8 track available!
Someone decided they didn't want to spend the extra money. :sigh:

I believe the magazine was quoting the cost to manufacture the radios, and not what they charged customers. Radios were always an expensive option.