Philco car radio console - Printable Version

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Philco car radio console - Ken G - 12-17-2005

I wonder what the real story is behind these little Philco consoles with a car radio as a chassis .
I have had 3 of these . They had to go to the trouble of new knobs , adding a power transformer and other power supply parts and putting a field coil in the 6X9 speaker they used in these .

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- Ron Ramirez - 12-17-2005

You have new car radios for 1942 automobiles that are no longer being built because of America's entry into the war. What do you do with them? Why, convert them into AC sets and get rid of them...

I believe it was a move by Philco to use up excess car radio inventory just prior (early 1942) to converting 100% to war work for the government during WWII.

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Philco car-home sets - Doug Houston - 12-18-2005

Ron isn't old enough to remember this. Philco supplied Chrysler Corp. with their 8 tube radios. They happen to be one of my two favorite car radios (which has nothing to do with this topic).

When WWII began on December 7, '41, Philco and other manufacturers had built the model year's production of radios for Chrysler and other cars. It was a popular set, and the cars were selling well.....until auto production stopped in February, 1942. Radio production came to a screeching halt about the same time.

In order to have something to put in the stores, both Philco and Motorola had cabinets made, and installed the auto sets in them, with an AC power supply, replacing the vibrator power supply. A 3 foot wire, strung around the cabinet was all that was needed for an antenna. There was never any doubt about it: you were getting a converted auto radio for the living room, but since that was all you could get, as the old saw goes: Halitosis is better than no breath at all!

We kids thought it was sort of funny, but it got a good radio for a lot of families, who no longer had a choice. I have one of the Chrysler sets in a chairside cabinet that I'm anxious to get going. It should sound beautiful, and it really doesn't look bad at all.

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- Ron Ramirez - 12-19-2005

Doug's right about me not being old enough to have been there...I'm 45...

I looked up the info, and my data indicates that Philco's two converted car radios came out in March, 1942, which pretty much agrees with Doug's comments. Model A-361 was a floor model and contained a converted Ford auto radio. Model A-801 was a chairside, and contained a converted Chrysler radio.

I once owned one of the converted Motorola consoles, a LONG time ago. At least I think it was a Motorola...I was in my late teens at the time...I do remember it wasn't a Philco.

Hate to say it, but I never much liked the looks of the A-801 chairside. To be honest, the first time I ever saw one several years ago, my first reaction was, "Okay, this was some high school kid's wood shop project." Found out later it was a legitimate Philco product...They do perform well.

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