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Volkswagen 'Automatic' Radio by RCA
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Bart57
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Joined: January 09, 2007
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Location: Austria
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 11:19 pm    Post subject: Volkswagen 'Automatic' Radio by RCA Reply with quote

Hi everybody,

Can anybody tell me the history of this RCA Radio?
Why on the panel VOLKSWAGEN is written?
Did RCA also export or produce these ones for specific VW models in the 50ies?

Pictures and description under:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1140674

Appreciate any info

thanks a lot
cheers
Bart

Photos:
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=1397247
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=1397246
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=1397245
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=1397244
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=1397243
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=1397242
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=1397241
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janerick3
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 8:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This radio was not produced by RCA. As the label states, it was built by Automatic Radio, of Boston, MA. However, RCA owned the patent rights to some of the circuitry inside the radio and Automatic Radio had to pay a royalty to RCA for using them.

This appears to be a "universal fit" radio, originally designed for commercial vehicles and prewar cars, as the speaker could be mounted in any one of three positions inside the case, or mounted externally.

Since the dial doesn't have the CONELRAD civil defense markings at 640 and 1240 kHz, I would date this radio to pre-1955.

I would be curious if the "tombstone" antennas found on early buses and some bugs (like my '54) was correct for this radio, as the speaker adapter plate from my '54 (rectangular) is completely different than the plate found with the Motorolas. Was this an "official" accessory that pre-dates the Motorolas?

Automatic Radio was in business at least into the early 1970s. They produced an 8-track player designed for in-dash fit on 1968 and later VWs. These did not come with a radio and did not sell well; so they were dumped on the surplus/salvage market in 1971-72.
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Bart57
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 2:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks janrick3,

any ideas why Volkswagen is printed on the front?

thanks a lot
appreciate it
cheers
BArt
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janerick3
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 6:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm guessing one of the early U.S. distributors (pre-VoA) had these radios produced for their regional dealer network.
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LHG
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Location: LostHillsGuy, CA
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 10:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

We just recently had a 1960 Bug found and it has an Automatic Radio.

Here is the topic on the car.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...highlight=

This is the tag from the radio in the car.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


The radio.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Here is a link to some more info on the radio.
http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/automatic_wp_19.html
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Brian O'Kelly
Central Coast Chapter, CA - Vintage Volkswagen Club of America
www.centralcoastvwclub.com
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