Chrysler's 1956 Highway Hi-Fi Phonograph

Just because you're driving in your car, it doesn't mean that you can't take your hi-fi music with you. Here's a Chrysler innovation: a phonograph for your car.

In 1956 they teamed with CBS to create the “Highway Hi-Fi” – an under-dash phonograph that played vinyl records at a super-slow 16-2/3 revolutions per minute. The slow speed allowed a small disc to pack up to an hour of entertainment on each side. Special mechanical engineering reduced the number of times and distance the needle would skip across the disc as the car drove over bumps in the road.

With innovations like these, we simply can't believe the how the company got into the economic trouble they're in right now!

Link - via Sunshine Supercars, Thanks Jo. A. Borras!

Previously on Neatorama: 10 Things You Didn't Know about General Motors


You know, I have seen reproduced ads for this and have heard about it before the Internet, however, I have never seen a photograph of one. Has any Neatonaut ever seen one of these up close and personal?
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Aside from choosing a short-lived rpm format (seriously, 16 2/3?), that's a rather amazing piece of engineering. I want one, but I'd be afraid to ever use it.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
@Sam R 3. 16 2/3 was a proprietary format and you had to buy the records from Chrysler at expensive prices. People who changed it to play standard records were sued.

Ok, it is a piss-take but I couldn't help meself.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Ironically, at 16 2/3 rpm the sound quality becomes so poor that it could hardly be called "hi-fi"! My Mom had a phonograph with an 8 rpm setting on it; this was limited to Talking Book records (Free Matter for the Blind & Handicapped) and not used for music. I guess the fact that the music recordings sounded not very good was harder to notice over the noise of the car as one drove.

Oh, and everyone wore "driving gloves" if they were in a car ad in those days.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
My uncle had something similar to this in his Ford Torino
before 8 tracks came out. it hung upside down under the dash and the record had to be held in place with a special mechanism. He had two stolen before he gave up on it.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
If you consider that 1956 is before the tape player existed, it wasn't such a bad idea. Using a proprietary record system was however, in my opinion.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
My friend had a 1958 DeSoto that had a record player in it. Worked like a charm since the suspension was so amazing - the car was like a tank and floated on the highway. It had a dash record player that the needle floated sideways across. You could play any record and it sounded great. I have a lot of memories of that cool contraption.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
This was auto-audio state of the art! I had a friend with one in his 1961 Ford Falcon! Pretty much sucked "in-flight" but his "45" stacks-of-wax collection beat the crap out of small-town commercial radio during the after-school meets to kill an hour. Their demise came rapidly once LearJet and the sub $100 underdash Pioneer 8-track brought the "rearranged" LP to the market.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Ah, but imagine the nights in Lover's Lane. You weren't stuck listening to the radio. With the car parked, you could listen to whatever you wanted. And by the time the needle started to skip, you were far too busy to even notice.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
"Every little bump would cause the needle to lose track. Seems pretty lame to me."

That's pretty much like the first car CD players though.

My sister had an old portable record player (Philips) that had a 16rpm setting - and 78rpm too.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Not just ladies ... in the 50s, it was "classy" to wear gloves for driving. Racing drivers did it, and driving gloves were a favorite Christmas gift. Nowadays, you only find golfers wearing them.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Hej vad skulle man få tag i en HIGHWAY HI FI RECORD PLAYER i fint skick å vad får man betala för den någon som vet tack på för hand.........
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Photoshopped?

They didnt have photo shop in '56. They didnt even hace tape decks, lol.

Come on get a clue, its an ad not a documentary. Who cares if they fudged the photo?
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
i have a highway 7 found it in our family repair shop that we opened just after ww2 we just closed it,it was located in the motor city, it has slight rust on the top of it, but other then that it looks new even has original instructions and the needle is there make offer it could be yours you can contact me at edziu325@yahoo.com
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
My friend, Larry had a Philips HiWay Hi-fi in his '57 Ford, It worked pretty well. He left a bunch of 45s on the shelf under the rear window,in the sun. They looked like lasagna ! My friend, Dave fixed it one day & had it hooked up to a 12 power supply. He turned it upside down & it still played ! It hooked into the radio thru the antenna.

Peace ----------------------------------- Mike.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Login to comment.
Click here to access all of this post's 29 comments




Email This Post to a Friend
"Chrysler's 1956 Highway Hi-Fi Phonograph"

Separate multiple emails with a comma. Limit 5.

 

Success! Your email has been sent!

close window
X

This website uses cookies.

This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using this website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

I agree
 
Learn More