Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi

I recall my dad saying he used to fit in-car record players to high end Astons & Facel Vegas in the 60's. But ive never seen one until now

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/267464796588 ... R9Td3pX_Zg

What a wonderful thing and positive earth too!

I wonder how it works to stop the stylus skipping around?

In my youth we used to take my portable wind-up Decca gramophone out in my Morris. We could only use it when the car was stationary and we would belt out 78 rpm records from the 1920's. I had a "trench" model gramophone in a leather box from the WW1 era. I still have it actually but the leather has seen better days and the hinges fell off years ago.

Stephen

Since getting my 64 Traveller a little over a year ago I've been collecting some "accoutrement", as Henry Cole would say, pertaining to its manufacture date of October 1964. One of which is this little battery powered portable Record Player

Wes wrote: ↑Mon Jan 26, 2026 8:25 am Hi

I recall my dad saying he used to fit in-car record players to high end Astons & Facel Vegas in the 60's. But ive never seen one until now

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/267464796588 ... R9Td3pX_Zg

I had to look up what a Facel Vega was.....(every day's a school day )

The concept of the in-car record player was, of course, from the American Motor Industry in the late '50s.
As usual, a bit like VHS or Betamax in the 80s, there were different ideas competing, including specific vehicle discs.
It all had a very short life because of 8 Track Tapes arriving in the mid '60s.
There's a good blog giving the basics here: https://www.lelandwest.com/blog/listing ... rs-in-cars.

geoberni wrote: ↑Mon Jan 26, 2026 9:46 am
I had to look up what a Facel Vega was.....(every day's a school day )

The concept of the in-car record player was, of course, from the American Motor Industry in the late '50s.
As usual, a bit like VHS or Betamax in the 80s, there were different ideas competing, including specific vehicle discs.
It all had a very short life because of 8 Track Tapes arriving in the mid '60s.
There's a good blog giving the basics here: https://www.lelandwest.com/blog/listing ... rs-in-cars.

Spent a good portion of my childhood being driven about in an Facel HK500

I like that they made special long playing 7" discs just for these players

Interesting thread. Here’s my 60s Radiomobile cassette recorder/player, it clips to a plate fitted under the dash.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassette_tape

Cassette's only developed in 1963 so maybe a bit early for an in-car player circa Late 1964

Wes wrote: ↑Mon Jan 26, 2026 11:08 am https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassette_tape

Cassette's only developed in 1963 so maybe a bit early for an in-car player circa Late 1964

1968 apparenley.

On a bit of a tangent i had on of the early Sony portable CD players with a 3.5mm jack plug to dummy cassette adaptor for the car. Skipped like no ones business!

I don't think mine's gonna fit, somehow......

Oh I dont know...

Be OK in a convertible, just so long as it isn't raining.

I remember an in car record player in an upmarket mini.

45s only, you slid them in and hoped for the best.

The best was really not very good.

simmitc wrote: ↑Mon Jan 26, 2026 2:59 pm Be OK in a convertible, just so long as it isn't raining.

But the wind resistance would slow you down big time!

myoldjalopy wrote: ↑Mon Jan 26, 2026 5:20 pm

simmitc wrote: ↑Mon Jan 26, 2026 2:59 pm Be OK in a convertible, just so long as it isn't raining.

But the wind resistance would slow you down big time!

I am chuckling at the thought of this. The enormous sound trumpet sticking out with shouts of "hold it steady, the record's skipping!"

Stephen

See this, about 1.09: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DApVaY3Fs8c Don't know where the horn is though, maybe comes through into the dash area

myoldjalopy wrote: ↑Mon Jan 26, 2026 5:37 pm See this, about 1.09: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DApVaY3Fs8c Don't know where the horn is though, maybe comes through into the dash area

I was expecting The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine I remember it being re-released in the 1970s....

Yes, it reached no.2 in the charts in 1975. It did not manage to dislodge Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody from top position....

Time to sing along...if you are old enough

https://board.mmoc.org.uk/download/file ... w&id=30176

Top two singles when my car first hit the road:

1. Always something there to remind me, Sandie Shaw
2. Pretty Woman, Roy Orbison

Not bad

Monster Mash would of been on the radio at Cowley as mine rolled off the line