250 GTE Radios

Tom Wilson · Post by **Tom Wilson** » Thu Oct 17, 2002 7:34 pm

I have noticed that Blaupunkt Frankfurt radios regularly come up for sale on eBay. Most that I bid on get purchased for a considerable sum, but as I have a lot of time before I need it, I will keep bidding in hopes of a bargain.

I found a site that identifies the year made by a letter at the beginning of the serial number. The relevant ones are: D=1960-1961, E=1961-1962, T=1962-1963, U=1963-1964, V=1964-1965 and W=1965-1966.

What is the proper faceplate? Some are siver with lines across the face, some are chrome and some are white. And did GTE's destined for the US have American radios or were all outfitted with the European buttons (L M M U U)? I assume that Ferrari used a black knob, as the white knob units seemed to have come from VW's.

How about the antenna? My car (SN 4247) has it mounted on the left rear fender, while others I have seen are mounted on the right front. Did the factory install the radio and antenna or did the dealer?

The only thing I am sure of is that my Audiovox Cassette player is not original!

lukek · Post by **lukek** » Fri Oct 18, 2002 2:20 pm

I do not have a radio at all in my car, just a leather block off plate (I bought a small Radio Shack transistor radio for $6.99 if I need my NPR fix). My antenna, however, is in the back. I have no idea where or when it was done. Here is a pic
http://lukekowalski.tripod.com/afbeelding008.jpg

Luke, #4823 250 GTE, SF, CA

PS. The car's first show went well and she ran finer than ever. Next day, however, the paint was scratched by a blind man crossing the street (he "felt it " with his cane). I will try to buff it out this weekend, it was certainly not appropriate to stop him, demand damages, or shout "Watch where you are going" at him...
[/img]http://lukekowalski.tripod.com/afbeelding008.jpg

Tom Wilson · Post by **Tom Wilson** » Fri Oct 18, 2002 2:52 pm

If I have my perspective on your photo right, your antenna is located on the body, between the rear window trim and the trunk. My antenna is on the rear fender, to the left of the trunk. So far we have three antenna locations identified.

By the way, great news on the show! I look forward to being in the same postion soon. Hope the scratch buffs out.

tyang · Post by **tyang** » Sat Oct 19, 2002 7:23 pm

Hi Tom,

I don't think there is an exact face plate for the radio. I'm pretty sure my Blaupunkt is original, with the original faceplate. The majority is Blaupunkt, but I've heard Beckers used as well.

Tom

Great news on the car Luke!

Tom Wilson · Post by **Tom Wilson** » Mon Oct 21, 2002 5:05 pm

I was looking at a 1991 issue of Encyclopedia of Supercars magazine, which featured a 250 GTE with the antenna mounted on the roof, just above the center of the windshield. I cannot believe that the factory used four (or maybe more) different locations for something as basic as an antenna, so I have to assume that it was installed by the dealer. Therefore, one can assume the radio was as well (or not, as in Luke's case). I would also assume that the radio manufacturer (Becker or Blaupunkt), faceplate and button pattern would change from dealer to dealer. Unless someone knows better, I guess I will continue to find the right year of radio and not worry too much about its detailing!

tyang · Post by **tyang** » Mon Oct 21, 2002 8:15 pm

Hi Tom,

I would simply buy the right radio for your year, and not worry about the rest. Since your car is a late GTE, the flat faceplate would probably be correct, but not the only one!

Tom

Post by **330GT** » Mon Oct 21, 2002 11:49 pm

A Becker of the right vintage would be the Europa (mono model). http://www.parrotbyte.com/kbc/ferrari/i ... _small.JPG These sell typically are from $40-80 on ebay.

The placement of the antenna seemed to be up to the dealer that installed it. All of the 330 GT factory pictures I've seen never had an antenna, so I think that it was a dealer option. I would think that the same would hold true for older cars.

Neil Albaugh · Post by **Neil Albaugh** » Tue Nov 12, 2002 4:34 pm

My first Ferrari 250GTE was a Series II that had been imported from Italy. It had a multiband Condor tube-type signal-seeking radio. I've never seen another Condor-- has anyone else run across one of those?

The antenna was mounted in the conventional position-- in the top of the right front fender near the windshield.

M.Plechaty · Post by **M.Plechaty** » Tue Jan 14, 2003 3:33 pm

The radio in my Series 1 GTE is a Philips, made in Holland. It has 2 push buttons, marked M and U. The frequency ranges on the dial indicate they are AM & FM. I have no idea if this was a dealer-installed (sold & serviced in Padua, Italy) unit, but presumably not judging by the frequency range. My GTE wasn't imported to the USA until around 1971. The radio is small and certainly nothing fancy but it has a period look to it. And, it works.

jsa3 · Post by **jsa3** » Tue Jan 14, 2003 9:18 pm

I purchased a 60's Blaupunkt AM/FM/SW radio recently and it has a white lined plastic faceplate, which is cracked and needs to be replaced. Any sources out there?

Thanks,

Scott

Sleeper · Post by **Sleeper** » Tue Jan 14, 2003 9:27 pm

Is there an actual correct radio? I think that the radio was an after market item. I have never seen two that are alike. I also do not beleive that a radio was available from the factory before 1960. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Ruedi · Post by **Ruedi** » Wed Jan 15, 2003 5:07 am

FYI: No matter what manufacturer, there are 2 differences between FM radios that were built for European and North American markets in the 1960s and early 1970s:

1. FM frequency range:
Europe: 87.5 - 104 MHz
North America: 88 - 108 MHz

2. Station separation:
Europe: 150 kHz
North America: 200 kHz

While #1 is visible from the outside, #2 is purely functional in nature with somewhat annoying results.

If a European model is used in North America, the sound may be distorted. The reason for this is that in FM radio, the sound volume is proportional to the bandwidth used for modulation. The modulation bandwidth is higher in North America (200 kHz instead of 150 kHz, as can be seen from station separation) which may overload the FM discriminator stage of a radio made for Europe.

On the other hand, if a North America model is used in Europe, it would have insufficient filtering capacity to separate one radio station from the next one if they were next to each other on the dial (insufficent selectivity leading to station crosstalk). A secondary effect is that the radio station does not sound very loud (because the radio receiver expects 200 kHz modulation but gets only 150 kHz).

So, a radio may not be broken if it sounds crappy.

For what it's worth, I hope this helps.

Cheers,

Ruedi

M.Plechaty · Post by **M.Plechaty** » Thu Jan 16, 2003 10:30 am

Ruedi,

Thanks for the information on the FM frequency differences between Europe & North America. The Philips radio in my GTE must be a European unit as the FM ranges on the dial is 87.5 - 104 MHz.

Mike

www.tomyang.net

250 GTE Radios

250 GTE Radios

re: radios (and blind man damages my Ferrari)

Radio

Antennas

250 GTE Radio

250GTE Radio

Radio

Philips