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jburleigh13
Samba Member
Joined: July 16, 2004
Posts: 122
Location: Los Angeles, CA
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 Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:52 am Post subject: Correct radio for 65? |
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Hi,
I want to buy an original radio for my 65 -- its 12V, so which should I buy -- Saphire I, II, III? Blaupunkt?
Also, I noticed lots of them on Samba don't have knobs -- are these difficult to find?
Thanks,
Julie |
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Juan
Samba Member
Joined: September 01, 2003
Posts: 878
Location: Miami, FL
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| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 12:14 pm Post subject: |
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Sapphire I would be correct for 65. So would Sapphire II, although these are quite rare and hard to find these days, and therefore really pricy. I believe a Blaupunk Frankfurt for example would be correct, but I'm not completely sure.Original radio knobs for Sapphires are pretty hard to find, yes. For a 65 you would need gray (not ivory) knobs.
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Instagram: @juanskombi
1967 Velvet Green/Pearl White Kombi
1964 Pearl White Ghia Coupe
1969 BMW 2002
1959 Ford F100 |
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DrDarby
Samba Member
Joined: May 12, 2004
Posts: 6534
Location: Northern Illinois
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| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 12:49 pm Post subject: |
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Radios were dealer installed so there is any number that are "Correct". Sapphire I was the most common and it has the proper off white buttons. Sapphire III was 1966 and has chrome buttons & knobs and they got a trim plate with a black center. There were 6v units.
I used a Sapphire V out of a 1967 in my 12v '65 but with the all silver & chrome trim plate. When I found a junk Sapphire I , I swapped the face plate fo now is says "Sapphire I"
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Midwest Autosavers, Inc. Woodstock, IL |
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patrickm2213
Samba Member
Joined: July 15, 2005
Posts: 118
Location: Louisville, KY
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| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 3:51 pm Post subject: |
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Sure about the grey knobs? Mine has ivory knobs that match the rest of the knobs on the dash. And as the card shows it was put in the my 65 when it only had 4 miles on her.
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1965 Beetle
1971 Bus Kombi |
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67 Florida Deluxe
Samba Purist
Joined: June 21, 2005
Posts: 7987
Location: Gainesville and Tampa, Florida
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| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 4:56 pm Post subject: |
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That is unusual to have ivorys. 1965s have silver beige by specification. The ivory ended in '64. There is only a subtle distinction between the colors. You almost cannot tell unless you put the ivory right next to the silver beige (which is a reeaally light grey). I noticed your grab bar is original, so perhaps you have a very early production '65 and the knob bin at the factory still had some left over ivory components that landed on your car. The dealer could have easily swapped radio knobs to match. (IMHO anyway...)
-Kent
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OG member of the '67 Posse
A few of my toys, past and present
'56 Oval, '66 KG Conv't, '67 21-Window, '67 Bug, '79 SuperVert, '55 Pre-A Continental |
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67 Florida Deluxe
Samba Purist
Joined: June 21, 2005
Posts: 7987
Location: Gainesville and Tampa, Florida
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Zundfolge1432 
Samba Member
Joined: June 13, 2004
Posts: 12466
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| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 5:43 pm Post subject: |
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If anyone knew how to contact Nick Stokes who used to operate a VW radio repair service on the East Coast you would find him to be reasonable and highly competent.... I scored an early 6v AM/FM from him..
His website which I am unable to locate features pictures and descriptions covering all model years along with the higher end optional shortwave radios ...... Nick used to post on a vintagvw website and Glenn may know how to contact him if that site still exsists.... Good luck
Jim- |
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patrickm2213
Samba Member
Joined: July 15, 2005
Posts: 118
Location: Louisville, KY
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| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 5:48 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah it was a very early 65, if you can see it on the tag it was sold in 64. Never though about the singnal arm being wroung has never once moved and I know what you mean by the wandering as my uncles 64 is pretty bad about that. Either way though the colors on my car work together pretty well, and just about everything is orginal. Need to take some better interior pics., but can't think of any part in there that's not ivory
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1965 Beetle
1971 Bus Kombi |
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maximus
Samba Member
Joined: July 18, 2004
Posts: 74
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| Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 12:39 am Post subject: |
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| My 65 came with a Blaupunkt. When I bought it the guy said that he bought it off the original owner and it was all original. Dosn't work though, for whatever reason, but sure looks cool! And I think the knobs are silver beige by the sounds of it. They seem like ivory but not quite. |
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Howard66
Samba Member
Joined: September 15, 2005
Posts: 138
Location: London, UK
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| Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 2:44 am Post subject: |
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If you get a Blaupunkt, the Frankfurt's are the best as they have FM. If you do, make sure the buttons read LMMUU rather than LMKUU as they changed in early 1966.
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nimbus
Samba Member
Joined: April 15, 2004
Posts: 1302
Location: Jacksonville, N. FL
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79SuperVert
Samba Member
Joined: May 31, 2002
Posts: 9758
Location: Elizabeth, NJ & La Isla Del Encanto
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| Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 7:13 am Post subject: |
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| I have a Blaupunkt Frankfurt in my 65. Not strictly correct (I got it from a European radio restorer so it's a European model) but boy does it look nice, works on AM and FM, takes either 6v or 12v, and it goes well with a stock interior. |
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Juan
Samba Member
Joined: September 01, 2003
Posts: 878
Location: Miami, FL
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| Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 7:54 am Post subject: |
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| patrickm2213 wrote: |
Sure about the grey knobs? Mine has ivory knobs that match the rest of the knobs on the dash. And as the card shows it was put in the my 65 when it only had 4 miles on her.
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I don't think those are ivory knobs, they look like silver beige (gray) knobs. Ivory knobs have a more yellow color. These seem to match your dash knobs perfectly.
Your car is beautiful, by the way. But I supposed you already know that. 
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Instagram: @juanskombi
1967 Velvet Green/Pearl White Kombi
1964 Pearl White Ghia Coupe
1969 BMW 2002
1959 Ford F100 |
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Juan
Samba Member
Joined: September 01, 2003
Posts: 878
Location: Miami, FL
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| Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 4:23 pm Post subject: |
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here we go.
ivory knobs
silver beige (gray) knobs
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Instagram: @juanskombi
1967 Velvet Green/Pearl White Kombi
1964 Pearl White Ghia Coupe
1969 BMW 2002
1959 Ford F100 |
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vwgirl1961a
Samba Member
Joined: May 18, 2008
Posts: 466
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| Posted: Sun May 19, 2019 7:04 pm Post subject: |
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My '65 came with a Blaupunkt too. I bought her from original owner back in 1995. It always worked up until about 3 years ago. I never took time to find out why because I don't listen to the radio and besides it's am only. I think I will try to find out why it doesn't work.
| maximus wrote: |
| My 65 came with a Blaupunkt. When I bought it the guy said that he bought it off the original owner and it was all original. Dosn't work though, for whatever reason, but sure looks cool! And I think the knobs are silver beige by the sounds of it. They seem like ivory but not quite. |
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"Age doesn't really matter unless you are a cheese". |
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Eric&Barb
Samba Member
Joined: September 19, 2004
Posts: 24729
Location: Olympia Wash Rinse & Repeat
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| Posted: Mon May 20, 2019 9:12 am Post subject: Re: Correct radio for 65? |
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There is a modern circuit board that is being sold that converts an early radio to both AM & FM. Small enough that often the radio does not have to have the original innards gutted out. Any good radio repair shop should be able to get that and install it for you.
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In Stereo, Where Available! |
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rcooled
Samba Member
Joined: September 20, 2008
Posts: 2502
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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| Posted: Mon May 20, 2019 11:09 am Post subject: Re: Correct radio for 65? |
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| Eric&Barb wrote: |
| There is a modern circuit board that is being sold that converts an early radio to both AM & FM. Small enough that often the radio does not have to have the original innards gutted out. |
These guys install modern AM/FM circuitry into vintage radios but make changes to the controls as well. Plastic dials with frequency numbers painted or etched on them (like the Sapphire radios) can't be altered, so you're stuck with only seeing the AM band. They can also add connections for iPod, iPhone, CD player, etc. This doesn't come cheap though...they charge $385 just for a basic conversion 
http://www.turnswitch.com/radio1.htm
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rcroane
Samba Member
Joined: January 03, 2013
Posts: 2000
Location: Springfield, Virginia
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| Posted: Mon May 20, 2019 3:32 pm Post subject: Re: Correct radio for 65? |
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Here's a picture of the original radio installed by the dealer in my '65 for reference on type and knob color.
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Marcdeb
Samba Member
Joined: May 22, 2019
Posts: 3030
Location: Vermont
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| Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2020 4:56 am Post subject: Re: Correct radio for 65? |
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I want to find an AM/FM radio for my 71 Ghia. My car interior looks more like earlier 60s and I want to stay with that look. I am considering the new repro radios.
However I am curious about this radio. I like how it looks. With two chrome knobs, it would look even better. But it's for sale in Germany.
Would this European radio work for normal AM FM use in the U.S.?
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Marc
68 Karmann Ghia Cabrio Autostick
71 Karmann Ghia Cabrio
Previously Owned:
2011 VW EOS Hard Top Conv
2008 Saab 9-3 2.0T Conv
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68 Ghia Vert Survivor with 22,350 miles: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=768107&highlight=
71 Ghia Vert Restoration: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=726710&postorder=asc |
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Bug-nut
Samba Member
Joined: December 20, 2015
Posts: 488
Location: Knoxville, TN
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| Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2020 7:04 am Post subject: Re: Correct radio for 65? |
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| Marcdeb wrote: |
I want to find an AM/FM radio for my 71 Ghia. My car interior looks more like earlier 60s and I want to stay with that look. I am considering the new repro radios.
However I am curious about this radio. I like how it looks. With two chrome knobs, it would look even better. But it's for sale in Germany.
Would this European radio work for normal AM FM use in the U.S.?
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Yes assuming the radio still functions correctly it will work here. However be aware that the FM side will top out at 104 MHZ (see on the dial?) in Europe that’s as high as their FM band went, here in the USA it goes higher.
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