Category Archives: Automotive History

1941 Prices: Western Auto

Here’s a snapshot of the cost of living from 80 years ago, on the eve of World War 2, from the April 16, 1941, issue of the Pittsburgh Press, courtesy of this ad for Western Auto Stores. (For a larger image, from most browsers, click twice on the image.)

According to this inflation calculator, one dollar in 1941 was the equivalent of $18.02 in 2021 dollars. Here are some representative prices, with the modern equivalent in parenthesis:

Western had its own brand of radios, Truetone. A portable, which could operate on battery or household current, sold for $14.45 ($260.39), not including the battery. A single-unit car radio, with pushbutton tuning, could be had for the same price. A three-piece unit sold for $27.95 ($503.66), which included installation. The six-tube set had a chassis that mounted out of the way, with separate control unit and speaker. Whichever car radio someone bought in 1941, there’s a good chance that they would be taking it inside to listen to when gas rationing meant the car spent most of its time in the garage.

Spark plugs would set you back a quarter ($4.50), but they were guaranteed for 10,000 miles. Fan belts started at 34 cents ($6.13). A new battery for the car would be $4.45 ($80.19) and was guaranteed for two years. A bicycle was $18.75 ($338), but if you needed just a tire, that was $1.62 ($29.20). Tires for the car started at $6.44 ($116.05), but they included a free tube. If you wanted to go fishing, a complete outfit could be had for just 98 cents ($17.66).

1921 Recreational Vehicles

This early proto-recreational vehicle was shown a hundred years ago in the March 1921 issue of Popular Mechanics. The magazine notes that this vehicle, called an “auto-bungalow” was “the culmination of a movement which had been growing ever since the motor car became a reliable means of transportation. It ancestor was the two-wheeled homemade camp trailer, designed to carry the tents, bedding, and other simple requisites of a two-weeks period of “roughing it” in the woods or at the shore.”

The early RV shown above was not cheap. According to the magazine, the total cost was $16,000. According to this inflation calculator, that would work out to almost a quarter million in today’s money, a figure that’s not surprising, since many top-end RV’s are available today in that price range. The vehicle, including the rear porch, had an overall length of 30 feet. As is apparent, it required an abnormally long overhang at the rear, but the magazine pointed out that this was an advantage, since it put most of the weight on the rear axle, providing better traction and making steering easier. The interior living quarters measured a respectable 8 by 20 feet, which included a kitchenette with ice box, stove, hot water tank, and fireless cooker. It included toilet facilities and 22 incandescent lights powered by battery and generator.

As is the case today, not everyone could afford such a top-of-the-line luxury RV, and the magazine pointed out a number of options for the more budget conscious. For example, the “20th century prairie schooner” shown at left was constructed at reasonable cost by a Kansas City resident. It was built on the chassis of a popular make of light car, with the wheelbase extended several inches. The even simpler equipment shown to the right was designed by a Maine resident at a total cost of $312, including two new tires. This family of six cooked most of their meals on campfires.

Modern tent trailer for motorcycle or small car. Amazon photo.

The tent trailer shown below is similar in concept to some modern motorcycle camping trailers. According to the magazine, a number of such trailers, with either two or four wheels, were readily available for purchase, for the benefit of those with “neither the leisure nor the ingenuity to originate and build outfits.”

1930 Car Radio

In 1930, this gentleman, Popular Mechanics writer Allen C. Forbes, was undoubtedly the first on his block to have a car radio in his 1929 Nash. It took him two years of experimentation to finally succeed, but succeed he did, and he reported that the set furnished pleasure to himself during the day and to his family when out for an evening ride.

He reported that the biggest problems were ignition noise and lack of a good antenna and ground. Ignition noise was solved by suppressors in the ignition line and a well shielded set. For an antenna, he settled upon a screen mounted under the car’s fabric roof. He reported that with a set of six or more tubes, he could get good loudspeaker volume 100-150 miles away from a station.

Grounding was very difficult, because he used the car’s battery as the A battery, but the car had a positive ground, while the radio had negative ground. The set’s ground connection was not used, and the set was mounted with great care so that no part of the metal chassis or case touched the car chassis. The B and C batteries were mounted in an extra battery box. A plug-in cable was fabricated to facilitate easy removal of the radio from the car.

The radio was an Atwater-Kent model 35 with 3 RF stages, detector, and 2 audio stages. He noted that it was essential that a set with a metal cabinet be used, and that the set needed plenty of RF stages to offset the short antenna. Tet was mounted in the car upside down, and he noted that it was a good idea to solder the tubes into their sockets, especially if the car wasn’t equipped with shock absorbers.

The article appeared in the January 1930 issue of Popular Mechanics.

1961 Philips Norelco “Auto Mignon” Record Player

Sixty years ago this month, the January 1961 issue of Electronics Illustrated showed this automotive record player, the Norelco “Auto Mignon” (sold in Europe under the Philips name).

The set played 45 RPM records, which were loaded from the front with a “trap door,” not unlike how CD’s are loaded into most car players. The set played through the car radio, and ran off either 6 or12 volts. It retailed for $57.50

You can see a well preserved specimen of the model in this video:

1939: No Car Too Old for Radio

Eighty years ago this month, the August 1939 issue of Radio Retailing offered this suggestion for marketing car radios. By this time, it was natural to have a new radio in a new car. But the creative dealer could create a market by selling new radios to put in old cars.

The demonstration shown here was put together by dealer Crest, Incorporated, in St. Louis. To show that no car is too old for a radio, they installed the latest 1940 pushbutton model in this 1909 Ford. “And out into both commercial and residential districts went the car, attracting crowds by the very contrast between its own ancient appearance and the ultra-modern styling and performance of its accessory.”

The car cost the dealer ten dollars per day, which included the driver, gas, and oil. The canvas sign cost another ten dollars.

1938 Mobile Generator

From the October 1938 issue of Popular Science, this photo is self-explanatory: For a convenient source of electric power, all you need is a generator on the rear bumper, hooked to the drive wheel with a belt and pulley. It can be used in motion, or when stopped, simply by jacking up the rear wheel.

1968 Police Dash Cam

Fifty years ago this month, the October 1968 issue of Popular Mechanics shows this early rendition of a police dash cam. According to the magazine, the Connecticut State Police had just started using the system shown here. The Sony camera was mounted on the dash, with a small microphone hanging around the officer’s neck. The back seat was taken up by the video recorder and monitor. The system ran entirely on 12 volts, at a cost of “less than $2000.”

The article quoted Sgt. Nelson Hurlburt, who reported that he simply let the tape keep running while on patrol. The tape had 30 minutes of recording time, so if he didn’t catch anything at the end of that time, he rewound the tape and started over. The lens was adjusted three times, at the beginning of his shift, again at 10:00 AM, and then again at dusk. The camera could automatically adjust to changing light levels during the day.

The magazine noted that the videotape evidence made a compelling case to the driver who was pulled over or, if necessary, in court.

Battery Charging, 1918

A hundred years ago, the entrepreneur couldn’t go wrong by getting into the lucrative battery charging business, as shown by this ad in the August 1918 issue of Popular Science.

The unit appears to be a gasoline-driven six-volt 500 watt generator, capable of charging one to seven auto batteries at a cost of 13-15 cents per battery. The ad reports that autoists would pay $0.75 – $1.50 for the service, meaning that garage owners were clearing $40 – $60 extra profits per month.

The set was available from Hobart Brothers Co. of Troy, Ohio, for $15 down plus nine payments of $20 each. The company is still in business, today focused on the welding industry.

1958 Self-Driving Car

James P. Butler was a little bit ahead of his time, as evidenced by this article in the May 1958 issue of Popular Electronics. We think of the self-driving car as a modern phenomenon, but Butler was developing an early prototype sixty years ago.

Butler’s car allowed the driver to relax at the wheel, while the car itself took care of many of the mundane aspects of driving. The car stayed on the road by monitoring the crown of the road. If the vehicle drifted to one side, hydraulic cylinders steered the tie rods back into the lane. One minor glitch, that Butler was sure he could work out, was RFI from strong transmitters. If a police car keyed up, this might override the system. Of course, if a police car was in the vicinity, it was probably best for the driver to put his hands back on the wheel. Sonar would allow the vehicle to brake automatically if an obstacle was encountered.

Control was effected by means of a TV channel selector. What could possibly go wrong?

1917 Lighting Gas Bus

A hundred years ago, wartime conditions in England were such that there weren’t sufficient liquid fuels (gasoline or methyl alcohol) to run the buses. Undaunted, they switched to the same gas that was used to run the streetlights, conveniently stored in rooftop bags, as shown on the cover of the October 1917 issue of Popular Mechanics.

Complete information was apparently not available to the editors of the American magazine, since they noted that “the amount of power obtained from the lighting gas depends upon a number of things, and a reliable estimate could not be made without more detailed information thanis at hand. It is also not altogether clear why unwieldly bags are being used instead of compact steel cylinders which could carry gas under high pressure.”

But since the streets were already wired for gas, adding filling stations along the route was a minor matter. Indeed, some of the filling stations consisted merely of existing lamp posts situated near the curb.

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