[Arran]

I can confirm that Chrysler did offer a transistor car radio in 1956, but it was an extra cost option even with the Imperials, most of them got the tube models. I'm not sure who built them for Chrysler though, most of their sets prior to the 1957 cars were either Philco or Motorola built, the 1956 cars had a 12 volt electrical system, the 1955 cars did not. There was really no impetus to push transistor car radios at the time, transistors were quite expensive until 1959-60 or so, and portability, and current consumption were not really a concern, so it was more a marketing gimmick. By then field coil speakers, which were a big current hog in car radios, were a thing of the past in house sets as well. I think that Chrysler and Ford largely followed the same path, 12 volt vibrator radios came first, and then hybrid tube/transistor radios until 1963-64, by that time transistors were neither expensive, nor considered a technical marvel in a radio.
Regards
Arran

[MrFixr55]

The 1956 Chrysler Mopar 914HR (Chassis C5690HR) was built by Philco. It is listed in N/A but the diagram was not there.

GM, partnered with Texas Instruments, made the "Trans-Portable" and "Sportable" all transistor radios for certain 1958-1960 Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs and Buicks. The 1958 and 1960 models had a slide rule tuning system, but no buttons. These sets were permeability tuned. These ran off 6V worth of penlight batteries when removed from the dash receptacle. The receptacle provided connections for power, antenna and a stronger audio amp to power the car's speakers. the 1959 model portable had dial type tuning and was stored in the glove box in a bracket that provided connections to the dash unit which looked like a regular car radio, but contained only antenna, RF, Osc / Mixer, push button tuning, tone and fader controls and an audio power amp. (Only? they saved maybe 3 transistors and an IF stage by using the portable radio as part of the in-dash radio!)

[mike_z]

As a kid in the early 1950's I was always interested in anything that had tubes in it. Didn't know what I was doing and got shocked a few times. Then in the 6th grade (1958?) my teacher was a Ham radio guy and I learned a lot from him. Made a couple Heath kits etal. My dad found a guy that had a garage full of old radios and TV's. For $10 I got 4 TV's and 6 radios. Lots of fun. Later in high school, a couple guys from IBM came to our science class to talk about computers. We made a tube flip flop. I was hooked. Most of my electronics from then on were with computers, but over the last 10 years I have moved back to vintage radios. I have restored a half dozen or so. My pride and enjoy is the Zenith 12H670 floor model radio. I can remember listening to GunSmoke on my grand parents floor model radio in the 50's. I can still remember the smell of the carpet. Mike

[mike_z]

I have started a note book on what I'm doing with this radio. It helps my memory. The first thing I did was to remove the radio from the case. This should be interesting to reinstall this thing. Had to remove a bunch of screws, the set screws for the control head cables, unsolder the RF grounds to the var cap. The radio was really tight in the case, but it came out. Should be a lot easier to ID the parts. I usually take pictures of what I'm doing and would like to post some, but have not been able to figure out how. I found an insert image but that refers to a URL. How can I post a JPG from my computer? Thanks, Mike

[MrFixr55]

Hi Mike, 

Yes, you can post a JPG to an entry in your thread.  To do so, the black "Reply" button in the thread that you started.  Do not click Quivck Reply or you will not have the option to add files.
   

Scroll down.  Note the field that states drag and drop files here.
   

Open your file explorer and find the desired file, JPEG (Photo).  Click on that file and "Drag" the file into the "Drop some files here... area.
    The file will appear in a field below.

Add your text, then cursor and click where in the text body you want the file, PDF or picture to appear.  Scroll down and click the "Insert Into Post" button
   

   

Either click "Preview Post" to review and ensure that the post looks like you desire it to or click "Post Reply".
   


Hope this helps!

[radiorich]

Hello mr fixxr,
Wow , Chrysler introduced the first Transistor car radio in 1955 for 1956 Chrysler and Imperial models. This option was $150, vs about $3,000 for a Chrysler.
I have a new radio to repair coming up it's from a 1961 Imperial.

Sincerely richard

[klondike98]

This doesn’t add a lot to the discussion but you might want it anyway, the packing list for the model 10 (in our digital library)
https://philcoradio.com/library/index.ph...king-list/

[radiorich]

Hello Guys,
I have old Philco car radio that uses coke bottle style globe tubes but I don't have a head unit thou.
Sincerely Richard