Gary: Just curious. I have what appears to be an after market radio, FADO, that was in my 1941 Ford Woodie wagon....Ever hear of these? Any market for them?
Wow, this is a very old thread that has just been revived! To answer your question from 8 years ago, I never heard of this brand. Is this a radio that appears "original" and fits in the dash, or something that was chopped?
There are factory radios, dealer-installed radios, and aftermarket radios. The latter two you won't see in a Thunderbird (except modern brands such as Custom Autosound or Retrosound) for the simple reason that a radio was standard from the factory. However, for the basic Ford, Chevy, or whatever, a radio was an option and some cars were delivered without one. Often a dealer would install a set, and probably the most common brand was Automatic, but there was also Tenna, Karadio, Nordic, and even Stromberg-Carlson made a few radios for Fords. Aftermarkets included Sears and J. C. Penney.
Another tidbit: export cars will vary. I recently saw a 1960 Thunderbird where the dash had no radio, and no opening for one. I know it was originally delivered overseas, but don't know where. I recently converted a Buick radio, around 1948. It was a Philips, had BC, longwave, and I believe two bands of shortwave. The car was originally delivered to Africa. Australian cars have their own radios; instead of 540-1600 markings, the dials have a bunch of radio stations scattered around.
