MuntzTV Roundie ad from 1969...
 

Model 1580

$298 with trade

I wonder what they did with the trade-ins they got...

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4..._5_18_1969.jpg

Cool ad, never seen that one before. I wonder how many of those Muntz roundies exist today? I'd like to find one.

...

I've never seen a Muntz roundie, and I question whether that set was ever really sold... I knew Earl Muntz and his son when they ran their last store in Van Nuys in the 80s, and I had the chance to visit and talk with them about all the early TVs, etc. They had a display room with just about all of their products from times gone by, and no color sets (except for a few of the Sony-built Muntz big-screen projection sets.)

Charles

That's funny!
 

I wonder if maybe he was testing the market with plans to produce them if demand became high enough?
I think it's awesome to have been able to speak to Madman Muntz! I read about a wild car he made called the Muntz Jet. I think it was mostly sold to movie stars and wealthy people. It had a Hemi that may have been super-charged!

Living in the 'burbs, call collect. Heck today it is getting hard to find a telelphone number or address in some ads as they only list en e-mail address. I like the crystal clear radio. Knowing Earl, I wonder if it was really a crystal radio that happens to be clear, maybe a plexiglass cover :).

Maybe the picture on the screen tells something about the availability of the set...

Wasn't Muntz the guy that made B&W TVs that had about half the parts left out ? They WORKED, as long as you weren't more than 500' from the transmitter... If that's the case, I can only imagine what his color sets were like...Looks like he must have made a deal w/RCA or Zenith to help clean out their old stock...

Muntz did market at least one color TV, the model 721CV, from around 1957. This set is a clone of a RCA CTC-5. The chassis was built by RCA (unmodified by Muntz), and I suspect Muntz may well have made the cabinet, as it is rather cheaply made. No idea how many of these were made, or how widely they were distributed. The set rests on a dolly so it is easy to move around and prevents the spindly legs from being damaged during moving.

I noticed that the ad specifies that the set advertised has 3 IF stages and a power transformer! :D And "super powered fringe area chassis"... Looks like he knows the reputation his TVs have, and wanted to indicate that this set is better than that... :D

According to Muntz's biography on Wikipedia,

Muntz TV filed bankruptcy and went out of business in 1959.[25] However, Muntz's success continued in the sale of cars and general consumer electronics.

This would suggest that there is very little 'Muntz engineering' in this 1969 TV. Maybe
he put his name on some generic set that was being sold elsewhere under one or
more different names.

The article also discusses a 4-track automobile stereo system he developed
and marketed with some success before the 8-track format took over (for just
a few years as we all know).

He actually designed the 4-track tape system from which the cart system and 8-track is only a minor improvement.

Muntz store was still in business in California as of a couple of years ago when there was much discussion about him and someone did some research. The store from memory specializes in auto audio equipment and still owned by his family.

He was quite a guy. When Subaru came into the US with the ill fated 360 (wow, bet we'd all like to have one now) and went bust, he bought the remaining inventory and chopped them and sold them as golf carts.

If the country had a few more of the likes of he and Henry Kaiser it would be better off.

If I read this right.
My SAMS Photofact annual index for 1970 lists a couple of Muntz 1969 color receiver chassis with #9021. Folders 1006 & 1008. It also lists similar chassis also called #9021 in folder 830 from 1966. The manufacture is listed as "Television Manufactures of America" Muntz Division. 1020 Noel Avenue Wheeling, Ill. Anyone have these folders?

-Steve D.

my stepfather has a muntz roundie from the mid 60s.i remember that set very well.reasonably good picture! he sold it when he married my mom.decent style cabinet,however,it was no zenith.looked like an rca clone and i think the crt was a sylvania.not sure but the yellow label seems right.1966 sounds about right,my uncle luthor (had the airline sets) he repaired it a few times.he said it was a good set,very similiar to his.kinda like the dumont roundie at the etf.

I can probably put my hands on the Sams, but not tonight. I do remember, a couple years ago, somebody having a 60s Muntz color set with a 23v tube. I guess it's possible the pictured set was a rectangular model-they just list the size in square inches; I don't want to think hard enough to figure it out from that! Hard to tell much from an illustration like that.