I found this at a local flea market. Can you help identify what model it is, which car it was typically installed in, year?

Since I have 8 photos to show you I put them on my server:

http://www.strucktower.com/car_radio/front-back.jpg

http://www.strucktower.com/car_radio/top.jpg

http://www.strucktower.com/car_radio/bottom.jpg

http://www.strucktower.com/car_radio/chokes.jpg

http://www.strucktower.com/car_radio/slugs.jpg

http://www.strucktower.com/car_radio/schem1.jpg
http://www.strucktower.com/car_radio/schem2.jpg

http://www.strucktower.com/car_radio/label.jpg

is there a more appropriate forum or website to inquire?

I know nothing about car tube radios. I bought this on a whim, thought I might use the chokes or tubes (if usable) for projects. it doesn't seem to use a vibrator... or am I not reading the schematic right?

Thanks,
Keith Ostertag

Looks like a 12 volt radio with tubes and a transistor output on the side. You will need a speaker off the back where those holes are. I do not see a vibrator either. You should be able to hook it to your car radio when you get a speaker and see what happens.

Looks like an aftermarket radio for a 1960 Chevrolet based upon the unique faceplate and the CH-60 label on the back of it. These were available by mail order and also sometimes installed by car dealers since they could make more profit on an aftermarket radio if they sold it for the same price as an OEM unit.

Since it does not have pushbutton tuning, it would probably be of no interest to car collectors, so feel free to do whatever you want with it. You might find that it still works. The only value there is probably in tubes and parts.

Thanks guys. I do sometimes feel guitly tearing apart old radios for parts... maybe I'll play with fixing this one as a project instead, at least first...

Keith

Those hybrid radios use "space charge" tubes which work with only 12 volts on the plates, so there is no need for a vibrator power supply. That type of radio was introduced around 1957, and was made until the all-transistor radios were perfected, around 1962. There was some overlap on the beginning and end dates.

Dennis called it! Model CH-60M is for 1960 Chevrolet. Service information is in Sams AR-14, and I believe also in Sams folder 519-13. The same basic chassis was also used for a push-button version and with different fronts and knobs for Fords and Mopars.

I'm inclined to doubt that this is a Chevrolet "factory" set. This is because Delco radio supplied all GM divisions with their OEM radios, following WW II, and mot, beginning in 1940..

Following the war, several new suppliers of OEM radios appeared. Among them, Motorola, Stromberg-Carlson, and I even think that Automatic was another.

I once worked on a 1959 Edsel set, and it was made by Stromberg-Carlson (S-C). It was a bit more elaborate than the one shown here.

The exact application of the set shown here might surely be found in one of the Sams AR series service books. The set appears to have a search tuner, from what appears to be a touch bar st the top of the dial face. I'd guess that the thumb lever at the bottom of the dial face could be a sensitivity control. The only mystifying part of hat is, that there doesn't appear to be a searching mechanism.

Perhaps I did not make my post too clear?

Reading the first line of Dennis’s post tells us that it is an aftermarket radio. While Stromberg-Carlson did make OEM radios for Edsel, the radio in question is not an OEM radio, and the difference in build quality is obvious. The Stromberg-Carlson page in AR-14 lists the following models, all with the same basic chassis:

CH-60M, CH-60-PB (For 1960 Chevrolets)
DA-60-PB (For 1960 Dodge Darts)
DE-60-PB (For 1960 De Sotos)
DO-60-PB (For 1960 Dodges)
FA-60-M, FA-60-PB (For 1960 Falcons)
FO-60-M, FO-60-PB (For 1960 Fords)

The difference between “M” and “PB” models is mechanical only, the electronics are the same. Some may have a fader for a rear seat speaker. None of the models are “Search-Tune”.

I’ve noticed that some aftermarket radios do have escutcheon features that at first glance would have you think it was an “upscale” or OEM model. One instance of this is the FO-60-PB pictured in AR-14. While the 1960 OEM Ford radio had the word “F O R D” on the escutcheon under the dial, the Stromberg-Carlson aftermarket version has four black dots spaced exactly like the OEM Ford letters. Knobs are almost duplicates of the original factory items.

By the way, Stromberg-Carlson apparently took advantage of the tooling for their OEM Edsel radios as they marketed their “C.A.R. 7” and “C.A.R. 9” models as aftermarket for 59 Edsel or Ford. Virtually identical to their OEM line. Have to wonder what Ford thought about that?