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record players in cars, back in the 50's / 60's

A

alok

I had mentioned this awhile back, here are two articles on this. A friend had one in his brand new 1966 Pontiac Grand Prix . . . it was an aftermarket unit he had installed.

It fed an AM signal out that you could adjust to any dead spot on the AM radio dial.

here are two articles about them, plus there are additional links at the end of the second link article titled The History of Record Players In Cars,

Car Record Players of the 1950s and 1960s | Early Infotainment Systems- Consumer Reports News

The History of Record Players in Cars


Al
 
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It makes perfect sense - For as long as people have been driving, they've also had the desire to listen to their own music. Before the days of MP3, CDs, cassettes and 8-track tapes, there were....records.
 
We should point out that record players in cars were extreme rarities back then. Performance was poor and units were expensive, thus the quick demise.

The 16 2/3 rpm records used for such systems are quite the collectors item these days. If you get ahold of one (specifically made for autos) make sure you play it on proper equipment. A common stylus will rip up the microgrooves on those disks, which require a special smaller stylus, unlike other 16 2/3 discs which can be played with a standard tone arm (assuming you have a turntable that runs at that slow speed.)

You might likely come across similar 16 2/3 discs for the Seeburg background music system once used in stores. These also require a small stylus and at a glance be mistaken for 45 rpm discs due to the large center hole. There are numerous YouTube clips with lengthy examples of the Seeburg music library.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
We should point out that record players in cars were extreme rarities back then. Performance was poor and units were expensive, thus the quick demise.

The 16 2/3 rpm records used for such systems are quite the collectors item these days. If you get ahold of one (specifically made for autos) make sure you play it on proper equipment. A common stylus will rip up the microgrooves on those disks, which require a special smaller stylus, unlike other 16 2/3 discs which can be played with a standard tone arm (assuming you have a turntable that runs at that slow speed.)

You might likely come across similar 16 2/3 discs for the Seeburg background music system once used in stores. These also require a small stylus and at a glance be mistaken for 45 rpm discs due to the large center hole. There are numerous YouTube clips with lengthy examples of the Seeburg music library.
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Way back in the day a buddy of mine installed an under the dash 45 RPM player for 7" discs in his car. Didn't sound too bad, but there were some problems driving over bumps in the road. It's overall sound was similar to what I got when I installed an FM Converter in my car which also used an AM modulator.
 
Sorry, but what does this have to do with Broadcast Engineering? Back in the stone age, this was a consumer product.
 
TomásEstefan said:
If this bothers you why not start a new thread ? This one's entitled "record players in cars, back in the 50s/60s."
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Didn't say it bothered me. Was asking how anyone thought this was related to the technical side of radio or TV. Answer: Apparently it isn't.
 
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Kelly A said:
Didn't say it bothered me. Was asking how anyone thought this was related to the technical side of radio or TV. Answer: Apparently it isn't.
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Where would you have put this thread? Did you PM "alok" with a suggested place to put this thread? I sure one of the moderators would have moved it if asked or if it really needed to be moved on their own. Of all the areas on this sight, I always though the engineering would be one that offered help or suggestions.

BTW: I guess the "car record player" was like "FM" converter for AM car radio and not really an engineering topic unless it caused interference with other cars but I can't think off the top of my head where to put this thread.
 
secondchoice said:
Where would you have put this thread? Did you PM "alok" with a suggested place to put this thread? I sure one of the moderators would have moved it if asked or if it really needed to be moved on their own. Of all the areas on this sight, I always though the engineering would be one that offered help or suggestions.

BTW: I guess the "car record player" was like "FM" converter for AM car radio and not really an engineering topic unless it caused interference with other cars but I can't think off the top of my head where to put this thread.
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The topic is related to radio is it is one example of alternatives that detracted from a person's time that might otherwise go to radio. 8-Tracks, cassettes, CDs, MP3s and all the other delivery systems have a direct influence on the usage of radio.
 
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