mid 60s Cadillac radios

Antique Cadillac affictionados -- what vintage had radios with
"search" features? You pressed a button and the radio looked for
signals -- the display bar moved on the tuner while it searched. I am
thinking this was 1965 Cadillac.

On Sat, 06 Oct 2007 18:46:13 -0700, Powercat >
wrote:

>Antique Cadillac affictionados -- what vintage had radios with
>"search" features? You pressed a button and the radio looked for
>signals -- the display bar moved on the tuner while it searched. I am
>thinking this was 1965 Cadillac.

My parents' '64 had this radio. The button was called "The
Wonderbar." There was also a button on the floor to do the same
thing. If you stepped on it accidentally, you lost the radio station.

The Wonderbar radio came out long before 1964.

Cadillacs came equipped with them as early as 1950. It may have
debuted in the '40's but 1950 is the earliest year of which I have
first hand knowledge. It had the seek-and-find feature that people
associate today with digital radios even though it was strictly
electro-mechanical in operation. The Wonder Bar feature enabled you to
lock in 5 stations with pre-set buttons and search for more stations
by pressing the "wonder bar". On Cadillacs with power antennaes,
(about 1954 onward) this feature worked in tandem with the antennae.
The antennae rose and fell according to signal strength. The stronger
the signal, the lower the antennae and vice versa.

The wonderbar radio was also shared with sister makes like Pontiac and
Oldsmobile. Corvettes also got them as options in the late fifties and
sixties.

The button on the floor you mention was an option in the 1950's. It
enabled the driver to change stations without taking his hands off the
wheel. This option was also available for rear sear passengers in the
series 75 limousines and Sixty Special sedans, enabling them to
control the radio without having to ask the driver to do it for them.

I drive a 1956 Coupe de Ville and the radio is quite remarkable when
you consider its design predates even transistors. I'll check with
some people in the Cadillac & LaSalle club to find out if 1950 was the
debut year for the Wonderbar or if it came out sometime earlier.

Forrest

Otto Skorzeny > writes:
> The button on the floor you mention was an option in the 1950's. It
> enabled the driver to change stations without taking his hands off the
> wheel.

There should be a connector in the bottom (or rear) of the radio for
the button, even it the option wasn't originally ordered. I think it
was a regular RCA female, so it's quite easy to add the floor button
if you want. I'm sure my '62 has the connector.

> This option was also available for rear sear passengers in the
> series 75 limousines and Sixty Special sedans, enabling them to
> control the radio without having to ask the driver to do it for them.

I believe series 75 had even a separate volume (and tone?) control for
the rear passengers.
--
http://www.hut.fi/u/iisakkil/ --Foo.

I asked a man by the name of Yann Saunders about the Wonderbar radio.
He is considered to be one of the world's foremost authorities on
Cadillacs and the history of the company from its formation in 1902 to
the present. He maintains a website on all things Cadillac
http://www.car-nection.com/yann/Dbas_txt/indx2001.htm . Below is is
answer to my question about the Wonderbar Radio:



Hi Forrest,

Beautiful car! I'll try to add them as a survivor in the 1956 photo
section ASAP. My first Cadillac (in 1966) was a 1956 Sedan de Ville.
I was sold on the marque forever.

I don't have a dealer Data Book prior to 1950, but I think 1950 was
indeed the FIRST year of the "Wonderbar" radio, although it was not so
named.

In the accessories section (p.110) you can see "Syncro-Matic Radio and
Rear Speaker - the new [my emphasis] Syncro-Matic Radio with Bar
tuning and individual signal seeking adjustment is the most modern car
radio available. By tuning signal-seeking control to any of five
positions radio will will automatically receive stations from 2500
watts to 50,000 watts. As many as 50 stations may be received by
simply touching the tuning bar....[my emphasis again]".

Hope this helps.

Yann

On Oct 7, 5:53 pm, Otto Skorzeny > wrote:
> I asked a man by the name of Yann Saunders about the Wonderbar radio.
> He is considered to be one of the world's foremost authorities on
> Cadillacs and the history of the company from its formation in 1902 to
> the present. He maintains a website on all things Cadillachttp://www.car-nection.com/yann/Dbas_txt/indx2001.htm. Below is is
> answer to my question about the Wonderbar Radio:
>
> Hi Forrest,
>
> Beautiful car! I'll try to add them as a survivor in the 1956 photo
> section ASAP. My first Cadillac (in 1966) was a 1956 Sedan de Ville.
> I was sold on the marque forever.
>
> I don't have a dealer Data Book prior to 1950, but I think 1950 was
> indeed the FIRST year of the "Wonderbar" radio, although it was not so
> named.
>
> In the accessories section (p.110) you can see "Syncro-Matic Radio and
> Rear Speaker - the new [my emphasis] Syncro-Matic Radio with Bar
> tuning and individual signal seeking adjustment is the most modern car
> radio available. By tuning signal-seeking control to any of five
> positions radio will will automatically receive stations from 2500
> watts to 50,000 watts. As many as 50 stations may be received by
> simply touching the tuning bar....[my emphasis again]".
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Yann

I owned a 1957 Lincoln.

I could change the station by:
1. Pushing one of the five buttons
2. Turning the righthand knob
3. Pushing the "City Seek" bar
4. Pushing the "Country Seek" bar
5. Stepping on the floor button, which would seek, using
the mode of the last "seek bar" used.