When was car radio invented

The vacuum tube chassis occupies most of the under-dash area. However, on a parallel path with Transitone, inventor and engineer William Lear later of Learjet fame played a central role in the development of car radio. Paul Galvin, at the Galvin Manufacturing Corporation in Chicago, sold a battery eliminator device that allowed battery-powered home radios to be run on standard house current.

However, because more and more home radios were running on house wiring, Gavlin was losing his market and was looking for a new product. The two were parking with their girlfriends at Lookout Point in Quincy, Illinois, and watching the sunset. One of the woman reportedly said that the evening was romantic, but would be more so if there was music to listen to.

Of such necessity is invention born. Lear and Wavering began working on a practical car radio, trying to systematically address the electrical interference issues that plagued the early systems they could not be operated with the engine running due to ignition noise. When they had it working, they took it to Paul Galvin.

Unfortunately, he had not paid for a display booth. So he parked the car at the entrance to the Atlantic City pier and demonstrated to passers-by that the radio received a clear signal with the engine running. By the end of the show, Gavlin had enough orders to begin production. Gavin Manufacturing eventually changed the name of the company itself to Motorola in Yes, that Motorola. It was reportedly a two-day job.

The fact that people paid to be on the bleeding edge of this technology is a testament to how basic a human need that music really is. This is in contrast to much of the trajectory of car audio from the s through the early s where everything except the speaker was contained in a single box. Although the Great Depression slowed refinement and adoption of car radio, it still progressed at a surprising pace through the s.

In fact, enough cars were acquiring radios that there was concern about it posing a safety hazard due to distracted driving sound familiar? The Radio Manufacturers Association countered with the argument that reports on weather and road conditions increased safety rather than compromising it, and that listening to radio programs helped to keep drivers awake.

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Although radios were an option, by , 50 million cars in the United States — more than 60 per cent — had them. Chrysler brought recorded music to cars with the first in-car phonograph in The so-called Highway Hi-Fi came with a mini turntable mounted under the passenger side dash. It was ridiculous, skipping tracks at every bump.

Yet researchers were undeterred. Engineer Earl Madman Muntz transformed the mobile music world when he unveiled four-track audio tape-cartridge technology in the early s. Ford and Motorola jointly introduced the eight-track tape player as optional equipment for Ford car models, and the design dominated car audio throughout the s. The devices were notorious for fading out mid-song while they switched to the next stereo track and also for eating tapes.

But they were simple to operate and relatively cheap. Even as the eight-track was enjoying its heyday, Philips unveiled the first compact cassette in Initially, the sound was muddy, but tape quality steadily improved until , when Sony introduced the first Walkman, bringing portable recorded music to the masses. Cassettes allowed individuals to create their own playlists, and they proved to be hugely popular throughout the s.

CDs offered better sound quality, instant track skipping and improved durability over cassette tapes. Most were offered as aftermarket add-ons, but the Lincoln Town Car become the first vehicle to offer CD players out of the factory.

Eventually, smartphones came with full-service audio players. Meanwhile, SiriusXM offers dozens of dedicated channels, including music, talk news and sports. Sound systems are now being used to enhance the driving experience itself.

Noise-cancellation systems emit sounds that can neutralize road noise, tire noise and chassis vibrations. On the flip side, automakers such as Ford, Volkswagen and BMW are using audio systems to artificially enhance the sound of their engines, creating a sportier feel for the driver. He says it appears the technology has hit a plateau, and it may be a few years before further innovations appear.