Perdio New Continental

[Paul_RK]

An odd thing, this: is it just me or is the design a tad misguided? Take 1) a portable radio from the Town and Country series, really quite good sets in performance terms but big and plasticky. Produce 2) a wooden sleeve to fit around it, with apertures as required, brass trim and padded leathercloth covering, then insert 1) into 2) and you have a contender in the luxury transistor portable market I doubt Hacker felt too threatened.

That big hole in the cabinet side does make it rather obvious that what we have here is a plastic radio in disguise. Still, it works very nicely indeed, and I suppose all that wood must help the sound quality a little. Is anybody else harbouring one? I've another here too, with the more usual grey Town and Country plastic case in a two-tone grey outer with chrome trim, at least as scruffy as this. The rexine here is of a fairly poor grade, but some light tan shoe polish may bring it up a bit. If there is another out there I'd be grateful to know just what ought to be around the DIN socket in the last photo - I imagine quite a plain metal ring of the appropriate finish, but whatever it was it's missing from both my sets.

Paul

[Colin]

Hi Paul, that's interesting. I wonder if the wooden sleeve could be purchased seperately as an aftermarket 'upgrade'. It's not too different from buying a protective cover for an iPod.

[Paul_RK]

Hi Colin,

I'd be very surprised if there were any demand! When I first saw one of these I wasn't readily convinced it was anything but a one-off, but Rod Burman mentioned it as the 'New Continental' in a Radio Bygones article on the Town and Country series, and the cabinet floor bears the stamp of the Perdio Cabinet Works (!)

Any retro-fitting would have been a job for a dealer rather than the set's owner, as the original handle has to be taken off, the telescopic aerial temporarily removed and the chassis at the very least loosened to get the set into the outer cabinet, and three holes drilled in the sides of the plastic case for screws to keep it there.

Paul

[Darren-UK]

This model is certainly rare but does turn up from time to time, usually very dilapidated.

The method of construction was weird; one could assume it was a relatively cheap way of producing what Perdio had the audacity to pass-off as a new model.

The problem was retail price. At the time, 1963, you could buy something much better like a Hacker or a Roberts for roughly the same price - give or take a couple of quid. That rather kills the theory of cheapness of production .

I can't remember for certain what fitted over the DIN socket. Logic says it'd be a brassy thing similar to that around the big cutout in one end of the cabinet.

[Paul_RK]

Hello Darren,

Originally Posted by darren-uk

The problem was retail price.

It certainly was! From 'Radio! Radio!', the Town and Country had launched in 1962 at 19 guineas, and the New Continental came along the following year at 24 guineas - the difference seems a lot to pay back then for a few bits of plywood, some (cheap) leathercloth and the brass trim. Compare that with the 1962 Mini-Herald at 17 1/2 guineas, or in '64 the RP30 Herald at 22 guineas - 26 if you wanted the short wave version - and it's hardly surprising Perdio were nearing the end of the road as a manufacturer of large portables.

Paul

[Paul_RK]

Here's the other one, offering trawler band instead of short wave, and badged (and grilled) as a Town and Country making its origin even more obvious, if that's possible.

Paul