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Wed Jan 19, 2005 7:01 pm

Hello, i might be able to get my hands on a Sapphire I. It seams to be in good condition, the nobs turn and so does the dial face thing, so, people would want one of these right? i have no use for it but i do need some bus money, so (try to be honest) how much do these go for? i dont know if its running. i know its vauge but just wanted to know.

OH!! if i get this radio and sell it the money would go to a fund to buy me a digital camera. so all of you can see all of the pics i'll be taking and it will make these post shorter and more enjoyable! (aren't you lucky!)

thanks

-Grant

Wed Jan 19, 2005 7:11 pm

Hi Grant,
With good knobs and not working about $20.00.
Eric&Barb

Wed Jan 19, 2005 7:13 pm

and if it is working?

Wed Jan 19, 2005 7:14 pm

wait, are you serious???? i was expecting more. what kind of price is a II?

Wed Jan 19, 2005 7:46 pm

Hi Grant,
Working you might get $60.00 - 70.00. Working means you run it for at least a couple of hours to make sure a capacitor is not going out.
A non-working model II about $100.00 -120.00.
Eric&Barb

Wed Jan 19, 2005 7:53 pm

Grant88 wrote: Hello, i might be able to get my hands on a Sapphire I. It seams to be in good condition, the nobs turn and so does the dial face thing, so, people would want one of these right? i have no use for it but i do need some bus money, so (try to be honest) how much do these go for? i dont know if its running. i know its vauge but just wanted to know.

OH!! if i get this radio and sell it the money would go to a fund to buy me a digital camera. so all of you can see all of the pics i'll be taking and it will make these post shorter and more enjoyable! (aren't you lucky!)

thanks

-Grant

I sold a really clean and complete Sapphire I yesterday for $75. It's working condition was untested and it also had a really clean original Bus bezel on it. It sold right away and I had 4 inquiries about it in one night.

Wed Jan 19, 2005 8:26 pm

Eric&Barb wrote: Hi Grant,
A non-working model II about $100.00 -120.00.
Eric&Barb

how about a beautiful and working one? (II)

Wed Jan 19, 2005 8:46 pm

Grant88 wrote:
how about a beautiful and working one? (II)

Hi Grant,
We have never sold one in that condition and have not seen one sold. would guess double the price of a non-working one.
There are also two differant Sapphire I radios. One fits Oval bug, pre-1967 bug & bus and the other fits post-1957 bug, post-1966 bus & KG. The differance is in the hole size in the dash.
Eric&Barb

Wed Jan 19, 2005 10:54 pm

Sapphire Is are a dime a dozen, I see nasty ones at shows for $5-$10 all the time.

I'd say a mint, complete, working I could be up to $100 though.

There was a excellent, working II on this site a little while back for $200, it sold fast. IIs are much harder to find, especially in good shape.

Thu Jan 20, 2005 2:41 am

There are actually 7 different models of Sapphire I's (and 3 models of Sapphire II's), depending on year and manufacturer, but like Eric&Barb said, there are 2 main styles, 60-61 and 62-65. For the purist, there are minor differences in all of them. For example 62-63 models have ivory knobs and pushbuttons while 64-65 have grey knobs and pushbuttons. Models before 64 have CONELRAD markings on the dial, later ones do not.

Price depends mainly on year and cosmetics since knobs, faceplates, dials, pushbuttons, etc. are not being reproduced. Almost any of them can be repaired but finding good looking ones is key. Good condition 1960-61 models are probably worth the most at the moment, but mainly in the bug and Ghia worlds. Those are becoming really hard to find in good condition, especially with correct knobs and faceplates.

Show quality radios of any year are few and far between and most I's could easily bring over $200 restored but the restoration process can easily cost over $100. A nicely restored 1965 Sapphire I on Ebay this week sold for $222.50 with all knobs and faceplate but missing the front and rear mounting brackets, speaker, and antenna. Unrestored it probably wasn't worth $50. And it could have taken 2 or 3 or 4 radios to get enough really nice parts to restore that one to show condition. There is very little money to be made in average radios. Radio restoration is typically a 4 to 8 hour job while most repairs can be done in less than an hour or 2.

A show quality complete Sapphire II is easily worth over $200 not working and probably over $300 restored but I've seen no more than 2 or 3 in that condition. The biggest problem with II's (if you can find 'em!) is the plastic pushbuttons have died from exposure to the sun. And there are no correct replacements available. :cry: Most Sapphire II's (and I's too) are average at best, and are usually found without correct knobs or faceplates.

Thu Jan 20, 2005 8:25 am

Sapphire I radios are all over the place and are pretty common like mentioned before. I took mine out and replaced it with a Sapphire II I bought a year ago for I believe 75 or 100 dollars. It kind of worked for a little while, but I need to have it rebuilt. Can anyone point me to someone who can go through it and about what they might charge? I tried to contact 3 people who rebuilt radios last year, but they had all their stuff packed up because they were moving, the hurricane, or something else and nobody would do it then and I've since lost the info.

Thu Jan 20, 2005 8:34 am

i had a sapphire I in my 65 sundial and it worked all the time for an am radio when i bought my bus back in april and then it started to rain and my windows leaked and in the course of 3 months my radio didnt work any more so i took it out (a hassle) and i cut yes cut off the entire back side of my radio due to the excessive amount of rust that had built up over the 3 months. after i did this i replaced the front half of my radio and it looks great and you can still push the presets and the dial will go to them just no sound it looks great but thats all it will be, looks, from now on until i find another working radio.

Thu Jan 20, 2005 8:58 am

They are out there. I value the ones in the pics from 25 to 200 dollars, depending on which one. Not for sale
Also it appears (by looking through some of my radios's) that the Sapphire 1 for a bus says Sapphire 1 by Bendix and the ones for bugs just say Sapphire 1, but I have 5 different faced,knobbed color Sapphire 1's

Thu Jan 20, 2005 9:06 am

Flipseat wrote: Sapphire I radios are all over the place and are pretty common like mentioned before. I took mine out and replaced it with a Sapphire II I bought a year ago for I believe 75 or 100 dollars. It kind of worked for a little while, but I need to have it rebuilt. Can anyone point me to someone who can go through it and about what they might charge? I tried to contact 3 people who rebuilt radios last year, but they had all their stuff packed up because they were moving, the hurricane, or something else and nobody would do it then and I've since lost the info.

I think there's a guy up in the Sacramento area that restores them. These guys might have the info-

510-582-7847 BH Motorsports

Thu Jan 20, 2005 9:10 am

Quote: I value the ones in the pics from 25 to 200 dollars, depending on which one.

yeah, those sapphire XIX are super rare!! ronnie, which one is the $200 radio? just curious, because i don't see it...or was that for all of them? :lol:

i also know someone who refurbishes radios, but i cannot divulge their info without their permission. you can pm me if you are interested, and i'll ask them. :wink:

i bought a real nice COMPLETE sapphire I with verticall knobs and a red needle (see ronnie's pic, upper right) for $20 last fall. works great. bought it untested, but it looked clean, so i took a chance. one that looks like it's been in a swamp is worthless.
i used to have a certain upper midwesterner bring me boxes full of 3 and 4 band blaupunkts, sapphires, etc, and he'd charge me less than $10 each, but i had to buy them all. that doesn't happen anymore, bummer. and does anyone remember the "good old days" when you'd actually find operational radios still in cars in junkyards? ah, the memories are coming back now............

i see some radios at shows, not nearly as many as i used to though, and for some stupid reason, people think that radios missing knobs, mounting hardware, faceplates, wires, broken knobs, cracked faces, are worth BIG DOLLARS. people, get real. core, parts radios are (or should be) $5-10 MAX. untested radios should be advertised and priced as such.
a gone-through, guaranteed to work, complete radio is worth much more, but a junker sitting on a shelf is a nice paperweight, not a retirement fund in waiting.
to ME, if someone had one that was "restored", and i needed/wanted one for a vehicle, price really wouldn't be a concern (obviously within my definition of reasonable).

Thu Jan 20, 2005 10:16 pm

Flipseat wrote: Can anyone point me to someone who can go through it and about what they might charge?
If you want to ship it to Sacramento I can give you a free estimate, just pay for return shipping if you don't like the price. My repairs start at $50 + parts, restorations are higher. Any good car radio shop can work on Sapphires (getting parts is the only hassle so don't be in a hurry) so there is probably somebody local wherever you are. Minimum repair rates for local shops here are around $85 AM, $115 AM-FM. If you're on the East Coast try Nick Stokes at http://homepage.mac.com/stokester/dub_tunes/PhotoAlbum5.html
He took some time off recently but his web site says he's back on the bench now. I've never heard any complaints about his work.

splitpile wrote: Also it appears (by looking through some of my radios's) that the Sapphire 1 for a bus says Sapphire 1 by Bendix and the ones for bugs just say Sapphire 1, but I have 5 different faced,knobbed color Sapphire 1's That's what I meant by minor differences between years. All 60 to 63 models say Sapphire I by Bendix, bug, bus or Ghia. For 64-65 they just say Sapphire I because both Bendix and Motorola made Sapphire I's in 64. That bus bezel also fits Ghias (and Jeeps too if you really care).

hazetguy wrote:
i see some radios at shows, not nearly as many as i used to though, and for some stupid reason, people think that radios missing knobs, mounting hardware, faceplates, wires, broken knobs, cracked faces, are worth BIG DOLLARS. people, get real. core, parts radios are (or should be) $5-10 MAX. untested radios should be advertised and priced as such.
a gone-through, guaranteed to work, complete radio is worth much more, but a junker sitting on a shelf is a nice paperweight, not a retirement fund in waiting.

Amen, Jon! I seldom find parts radios that are complete and correct in any way, shape, or form. If they do happen to have knobs they're usually the wrong ones for the year of the radio, or not even VW knobs. I sometimes have to buy radios with wrong parts just because I have another radio waiting for those parts. There is a huge difference between even an average complete radio and a restored one but Joe Seller doesn't know it. And yes I buy knobs, faceplates, bezels, brackets, speakers, speaker plugs, etc if you have any to sell. I have to because the average radio is missing all of it and a restored radio should be complete and ready to mount and play.

hazetguy wrote: those sapphire XIX are super rare!!
Actually they are starting to get there. Anything in AM-FM for fat chicks is desirable these days, but especially AM-FM-Stereo models like Sapphire XVI's or XXV's. Then again - the correct AM-FM faceplates to match the radios to the cars are probably harder to find than the radios. And 70's faceplates are all plastic POS. Finding decent ones is really tough.
-Dave

Thu Jan 20, 2005 11:46 pm

dstefun wrote: If you're on the East Coast try Nick Stokes at http://homepage.mac.com/stokester/dub_tunes/PhotoAlbum5.html
He took some time off recently but his web site says he's back on the bench now. I've never heard any complaints about his work.
What a nice web site! Thanks.

Thu Jan 20, 2005 11:59 pm

cris torlasco wrote:
What a nice web site! Thanks.
You're welcome! If you're looking for somebody to do radio repairs in Oregon, try Redwood Radio in Portland at http://www.redwoodradio.com/car_radio_repair.htm