I’ve been listening to some old-time-radio podcasts, Dragnet, Superman & the like, I believe originally broadcast in the 1930’s & 40’s. I got to thinking back in those days a car radio would be especially valuable to the car owner b/c you could listen to your favorite radio programs while drivin…

[image] texases: I put in one like this. That was fancy compared to mine :grinning:

[image] Mustangman: I put an FM convertor then AM/FM cassette stereos You skipped the 8-track?? :grinning:

[image] TwinTurbo: You skipped the 8-track Yes I did skip 8 tracks! I had a cassette recorder at home that I could use to make tapes from my albums sooo… I bought a cassette player for the car. I thought 8 tracks were a dead-end audio format. :wink:

[image] Mustangman: I thought 8 tracks were a dead-end audio format They all were dead ends eventually HA! But you were a visionary to skip the 8 tracks… I had a reel to reel at home. I got an 8 track deck for the car in a swap. Funny, my first cassette deck was from a swap too and it never …

This ad from 1963 verifies that a radio, heater, and some other items that we now take for granted were optional for that model year. [image]

[image] VDCdriver: This ad from 1963 verifies that a radio, heater, and some other items that we now take for granted were optional for that model year. The Chevy Chevette’s back seat was optional when it first came out.

IIRC, an opening trunk lid was optional on the Henry J. If you didn’t pay for that option, you had to wrestle your luggage into the trunk over the back seat.

My hand me down 1962 Chevy II Nova econocar had a chrome plate in place of a radio so if you wanted “music” it had to come from the singing from the other teenagers stuffed in the car, :smiley: Also no padded dash, seatbelts, passenger side or dimming rearview mirror. I seem to recall that radios …

[image] Beancounter: I seem to recall that radios didn’t generally become standard equipment until the Japanese manufactures like Honda realized that it was cheaper to put them into all the cars and build it into the price than install them at the port. +1 But, it predated Honda’s marketing …

Transistors and printed circuits made car radios cheaper to manufacture as the price of transistors came down. I I remember a classmate in high school in 1958 bought a pocket 4 transistor a.m.radio for $49.95, a large sum of money in those days. Ten years later, I bought a four transistor pocket r…

When did car radios become standard equipment?

General Discussion

MikeInNH March 23, 2024, 10:24pm 36

The Chevy Chevette’s back seat was optional when it first came out.

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When did car radios become standard equipment?

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