VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 A question about the beginning of car radios.

I got this information: The car audio system debuted in 1929 when Paul Gavin invented the first car radio. He called his new gadget "Motorola," a clever combination of motion and radio.

I thought GM started the radio business in 1924?

Comments?

Not totally sure about this but I knew an Olds dealer near Chicago who had either a 34 or 36 Olds that he said was the first one with factory installed radio. Not sure if he meant first GM car with it or the acual first car with factory installed radio. He said his Dad had sold the car new and they bought it back from the original owner with low miles. They had it in the showroom for years. I know I have seen car radios from the late twenties, most likley Motorola. They mounted way up under the dash and bolted to the firewall. Some had cable remote contols that mounted on the bottom side of the dash and had an antenna mounted under the running board. Those antennas I heard are real scarce because the didn't hold up well to all the crud flying up from the wheels. They also were prone to problems from vibration and usually wouldn't work too long without repairing. I do think Delco sold radios real early twenties but they were made to work off of the 32Volt Delco light plants for inside homes, back when if you lived in the countryside and had no power lines in the area. A lot of people had Delco light plants at one time or what was called wind chargers to charge up the 32 volt battery banks for the home 32V dc system. I saw a Zenith wind charger made for running a home radio in the "Billy the Kid" museum in Ft Sumner, New Mexico. It was mounted on a small tower and had long spruce blades mounted to what looked like an old car style generator, but says 32V on the tag. If you ever see a wall socket in an old house that has two slots that look like " -- " instead of " || ", those were 32 voltDC sockets. There used to be a lot of appliances made to run on 32V but they are scarce as hens teeth now. Seen ads for coffee percolators, Hot plates for cooking, electric razors, fans, vacuum cleaners, light bulbs etc all running 32Vdc power. The batterys were glass cased and were rebuildable by changing the plates.

After searching on the web I have found there are a lot of different opinions about when car radios were installed.

Here is one from an Australian forum:
Give me a break. Galvin didn't invent the car radio in 1929, the first car radio was fitted at Kelly motors, NSW, Australia in 1924. And Galvin did not invent his model of a car radio, he bought the patents off Lear, it was the first commecially available car radio.

My comment: Kelly was selling (assemblying) Chevrolets, wasn't he?)

From other pages:
First car radio was installed in Wales in 1921?

COMMERCIAL CAR RADIO: Manufactured by the Heinaphone Company in 1925. William Heina held a patent for it

Jerry writes:
According to the book "Chronicle of the American Automobile over 100 Years of Auto History," copyright 1994 by Publications International, LTD, it was possible to buy a 1922 Chevrolet with a Westinghouse radio installed. The radio cost $200., and an advertising flyer included in the article, which appeared on page 97 of the book, stated, "The Radio Sedan.
This New Superior Model Chevrolet Sedan has been specially equipped with a Westinghouse Two-Step Amplifying radio Receiving Set, at a total cost of $200." Other flyers published in the article spelled out additional details, and all were printed with a Chevrolet logo. That may not have been the first car radio, but I don't know of any earlier models.

Geoff writes:
It is widely acknowledged that the 1931 Cadillac was the first to offer a factory radio. By 1932 all GM cars offered them. Most other manufacturers followed suit in 1932-33.

The earliest years had the controls mounted to the steering column as the dashboards were not yet designed to accomodate them. By 1933 most controls were in the dashboard and the firewall mounted radio box continued into 1938 for the majority of manufacturers.

Many trucks did not have provisions for a radio and aftermarket steering column controls and firewall radios continued into the late 40's.

Here are some links as well:
http://www.motorola.com/content.jsp?globalObjectId=8432-10811

http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2007/12/what-1924-car-with-radio-looked-like.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_audio

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/78829

Anyone getting closer to the most likely truth by showing an ad from 1924 or even 1922 where GM is promoting this lovely accessory? That would be very nice.

Slide down the site to pictures.

Nice to see the same picture as I wrote about. It clarifies a lot.

Thanks, so much! :vcca:

Hi Solan,

Where have you seen this picture before?

Sorry, no, I did not see the picture, I read about it as you can see here.

:vcca:

Thanks Solan, I obviously missed the info in your post.

The Chevrolet publication that I posted is actually a 4 page brochure. It lists all the components needed to make the installation and the price for each. Of course some other information is also included.

So the lesson is: Don't trust (firmly) what is written on Internet, even if you doublecheck the information. If someone is writing a wrong statement, the next copying that for his own page does not make the statement more reliable. I saw several links telling about 1929, 1924 etc. as the "first" factory radio-equipped car. Several US-brands claim they were first, but the picture here shows 1922 Chevrolet is leading so far.

Anyone better?

Could you be so kind to scan and send me the picture you show here, + a little more. I would like to make a small article for CCONs magazine about this asap.