Marco's picture of his 45rpm record player in his Tbird got me searching for more information on them. Here is what I have found so far. There were three main record players that I have found so far.
One was the Highway HI FI, which played single, specially made 16 1/3RPM, not the regular 45rpm ones. They were being marketed in Chrysler, Dodge, Desoto's, etc. from about the mid '50's until about '60, when the 4-track tapes came out. They were short lived and had problems with skipping when hitting bumps, which I think all three of them did to some extent.
The next one was made by RCA Victor and is the AP-1. It stacked 12-14 records at a time, and played one after another until it ran through the stack. This was probably the best unit of all because they did what they could to eliminate the skipping problem. It played records from the bottom up instead of the top down. You will see one in a Desoto as it is being played... here.
The third one is the ARC 2500 45rpm unit by M.C. Co. out of Paramount, CA. I understand it is a copy of the RCA Victor AP-1 and looks just like it.
Now, I have see web pages that have sold these units for $700-$1,000 each! So they are not cheap. I would like to find one like Marco has and just use it when I am at S&S's even if I have to play one record at a time. But a RCA AP-1 or ARC 2500 would be the way to go.
Here is another web page or so about them.
http://www.classicdreamcars.com/45%2...%20PLAYER.html
Here is a picture of an RCA Victor AP-1.
I am going to see what else I can find.
Phillips in Holland made a single record player also, but I hear they are hard to find.
One was the Highway HI FI, which played single, specially made 16 1/3RPM, not the regular 45rpm ones. They were being marketed in Chrysler, Dodge, Desoto's, etc. from about the mid '50's until about '60, when the 4-track tapes came out. They were short lived and had problems with skipping when hitting bumps, which I think all three of them did to some extent.
The next one was made by RCA Victor and is the AP-1. It stacked 12-14 records at a time, and played one after another until it ran through the stack. This was probably the best unit of all because they did what they could to eliminate the skipping problem. It played records from the bottom up instead of the top down. You will see one in a Desoto as it is being played... here.
The third one is the ARC 2500 45rpm unit by M.C. Co. out of Paramount, CA. I understand it is a copy of the RCA Victor AP-1 and looks just like it.
Now, I have see web pages that have sold these units for $700-$1,000 each! So they are not cheap. I would like to find one like Marco has and just use it when I am at S&S's even if I have to play one record at a time. But a RCA AP-1 or ARC 2500 would be the way to go.
Here is another web page or so about them.
http://www.classicdreamcars.com/45%2...%20PLAYER.html
Here is a picture of an RCA Victor AP-1.
I am going to see what else I can find.
Phillips in Holland made a single record player also, but I hear they are hard to find.
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