Motorola 828 Car Radio Age?

[randall977]

I'm working on a classic car and I want to know if the radio is original to the car - see photo below (I have the buttons!). It's a Motorola 828, anyone know when this model was released in the UK? Thanks!

[HamishBoxer]

I think 60s to possibly early 70s.

[randall977]

Hi, many thanks for the reply. Really after the exact year to find out if it's original to my 1964 car - it will be between 1964 - 1968, can't find much about it on the web.

[peter_scott]

http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/motogb_828.html

1965?

[camtechman]

Really after the exact year

That may be difficult because of the following possibilities:

1) Was the radio supplied with the car when new?
2) Was the radio an optional extra?
3) If not 2) was it retro fitted by owner?
4) Picking any of 1)2)3) options, if not fitted from new, perhaps an owner replaced the original with the 828 as an upgrade.

So, not easy to give you an "exact" date.

[camtechman]

Just a thought, what is the classic car, as you may be able to trace an original advert for the model as it may provide details such as: "With a Motorola (828) Radio" ??

[randall977]

Hi, thanks again - very useful! The car is a 1964 Maserati Quattroporte and could be the original London Motor Show car of October 1964 - more of interest than value.

I've narrowed it down to two possible cars - mine or another - but the original photo shows a Motorola 818T - I think the previous model to mine. How likely is it that the original radio went wrong within a year or two? - not very. If the 828 is 1966 or newer then it's not the original radio. In that case it could be the 818T went wrong and was replaced by an 828 one. Does that make any sense?

Below is the photo of the interior of the Earls court car...

[Brian R Pateman]

An early request to remember that this is a Vintage Electronics forum so please avoid discussion of the vehicle.

[crackle]

Hi
I dont think the factory would have fitted the car radios back in those days, it was more likely done by the dealer. In which case they could fit any radio of choice by the new owner.
If you follow the link given by Peter Scott to the Radio museum, you will see the 828 is listed as 1965, not 1966. The ? indicates the exact date is not certain and could be + or - a year, so it could easily fall into the category of "appropriate" for the car.

Mike

['LIVEWIRE?']

I would agree with Mike (crackle) re; (a) who fitted the radio, and (b) it's age. (a) Even though the Maserati was an 'upmarket' car, it was rare 50 years ago for radios to be fitted as standard. They, AFAIK, were either(vehicle)manufacturer or dealer supplied options. (b) the 727/828 series (and the equivalent Radiomobile 970/980 models) replaced the earlier 717/818 series, which used a similar circuit, including the dreaded AF117s!, and, IIRC, were similar in appearance.

[Radio Wrangler]

The radio was probably made over a number of years, so it won't of itself allow you to accurately date what it's fitted to.

The radio probably wasn't fitted in Italy as it's a UK variant with the long wave band. If it was the show exhibit, most probably the importing concessionaires put the radio in.

As one of the earlier examples of transistorised car radios, I could easily believe the original failed. I remember fixing lots in this era.

Does it still work?

David

[KeithsTV]

In the 60s you also needed a car radio licence so not many cars had radios as standard.
It may be possible to date the radio by looking at date codes on some of the components such as electrolytic caps and the transistors although you may need to decode the codes on AF series transistors.

Keith

['LIVEWIRE?']

As the radio licence was, IIRC, only £1.00 per year, having to buy a second one for a radio permanently installed in a vehicle wouldn't have been a problem for car owners, surely, although so-called car/portable radios didn't need a seperate licence.

[Herald1360]

Unless your quest is for ultimate originality, I'd be inclined to junk the ho hum Motorola and fit something more like a Blaupunkt Koln

http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/blaupun...r_serie_u.html

Correct to period and VHF too.

Not to mention more in keeping with the car's status.

[Radio Wrangler]

I think he's trying to use the radio to date the car, and thereby to trace the car's history.

David

[Herald1360]

Oh!

I read it the other way- date of car known, is radio the original fitted as per photo?

Otherwise, I just reckoned something better, more usable today and still period might be interesting.

[peter_scott]

Originally Posted by Radio Wrangler

I think he's trying to use the radio to date the car, and thereby to trace the car's history.

I doubt that! Cars are easy to date. Radios are not.

Peter

[Radio Wrangler]

The radio in the show car ought to be visible in a lot of press photos taken at Earls Court. Newspapers archive photos and don't throw them away, so some detective work in the annals of the heirs of fleet street, and 'Motorsport' may do the trick.

David

[Mike. Watterson]

The Radiomuseum
Year: 1965 ?
The "?" means it has an uncertainty of a year. So 1964, 1965 or 1966.
It's not unusual for a car maker to use two different models within a year based on availability.

A "??" means the date is a guess.

The reason for uncertainty is that often a model is released OR advertised the year before but called the coming year's Model. Thus a 1965 Season radio (esp US Brands) may be on sale any time in 1964.

Motorola was of course a US company.

EDIT:
Just checked and it's in the 1965-66 R&TVS. This means it could have been released late 1964 or anytime 1965 because of how the books were done. At the very latest early 1966. Hence the Radiomuseum date is from R&TVS, which only ever gives the latest date it can be. A 1964 model is possible in the 1965-66 book. Actually there is so little difference that the R&TVS has NO details! It refers service people for the 525, 626, 727 and 828 to the 1964-65 volume 515T, 616T, 717T and 818T respectively.

I looked up the 1964-65 book for 515T, 616T, 717T and 818T
818 is push-pull version of 717
516 and 616 are MW only versions of 818 and 717

So it's quite likely that the same Model of car had 818 and 828 in different times of production. Slight cosmetic differences.
818 in October 1964 car show and 828 in slightly later production seems very likely.

[randall977]

Hi, many thanks for all of your replies. I cleaned it and connected it all up this evening, also had a poke around inside - behind the display it has 727 stamped.

It lights up and the volume crackles a bit but no radio reception - exactly the same as the 818T that came with a car I did a few years ago. With that one I wired in an input between the volume and output - it worked but poor sound quality.

The 818T is a nice looking radio, a real classic, this one is not so nice so I may look at the alternative 60's radios - especially one with vhf would be nice!