Car Cassette Radio
Maker and role
Alpine Electronics, Manufacturer
Production date
03 Aug 1993
See full details
Object detail
Accession number
2010.46
Maker
Production period
Description
Alpine car stereo - microchip control, digital display, cassette deck with auto reverse, auto station search and 6 electronic memories.
Brief History
Commercial car radios date back to as early as 1930, when a Motorola model became available in America for the grand price of $130 US. Prices began to come down and quality improved although until the 1950s car radios were only capable of receiving AM frequencies.
Alpine Electronics was established in Japan in 1967 with a focus on developing products for the rapidly growing Japanese automotive industry. The company began producing car radios in 1969. Cassettes began to be integrated into car radios from the 1970s, and by the 1990s were increasingly entering the digital age, like this model capable of programming 6 stations into memory and automatically changing the side the cassette tape was played from, without the driver having to remove and reinsert the tape.
Alpine Electronics was established in Japan in 1967 with a focus on developing products for the rapidly growing Japanese automotive industry. The company began producing car radios in 1969. Cassettes began to be integrated into car radios from the 1970s, and by the 1990s were increasingly entering the digital age, like this model capable of programming 6 stations into memory and automatically changing the side the cassette tape was played from, without the driver having to remove and reinsert the tape.
Marks
26751 347 Sticker
MMu 5B 3LMI
DC 13.2v
MMu 5B 3LMI
DC 13.2v
Media/Materials
Credit Line
Alpine Electronics. 03 Aug 1993. Car Cassette Radio, 2010.46. The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT).
Public comments
I had a 1994 Toyota Corolla hatchback that was fitted with an identical header unit. These plugged into power, aerial and speaker wiring loom plugs. Either augmented by a CD Walkman conversion cassette or replaced by Compact Disk (CD) capable header units as the popularity CDs increased of cassette tapes declined.
- David Cawood posted one year ago.