Making calls on the old car phones was extremely expensive. My Dad worked for a company in California in 1969. His boss had one in a 1969 Lincoln Mark III. He said that calls, incoming or outgoing were more than $3.00 per minute! Mind you, that was in 1969 dollars! According to the Inflation Calculator, that would be $17.36/minute in 2009 US dollars. I don't think too many casual calls were made in car phones then.
Back in about 1966 or so, my father had one-he was the "County Executive" for a NorCal county, and had to be in touch at all times. I remember on a trip up to Lake Tahoe once-(official business of course), where I called home from Interstate 80 to let them know what time to have dinner ready. That thing was heavy, looked like a .50 Cal ammo box with an antenna, and a rotary dial on top and a handset on top of that...I thought that was pretty cool, but I was only 9 years old at the time... Pretty soon, we'll all have implants in our skulls, and walk around talking to ourselves all the time-oh wait, people already do that...
I saw a guy using one of the wwII field phones in a movie, and it made me think it could have been done back then. There's also a scene in "High School confidential" where the guy has a car phone. My friend has one of those cell phone deals in her pink '60 el camino. Ill look for a pic.
in 78 i had a Motorola car phone in my tow truck as conman said it was a radio phone had several buttons you pushed to find a dial tone you would dial a # then an operator would assist you yes they were a party line i used it into early 8o's it broke bought a replacement one that was bad my friend at the radio shop said get a new cell phone i was the 2364th customer with one it was private and personal the phone had a trunk mount box that was heavy about 12" X 12" X 4" A Johnson Western Union Dial in Base still have it still worked when i took it out almost looked like a wall phone
I have an original 1886 brick cell phone, i thought about taking apart a bluetooth hands free set and mounting it inside of the phone, that way when your phone rang, you could answer the brick lol.
In 1963, there was a series called "Burke's Law" starring Gene Barry. Barry played a detective named Amos Burke, who was the Chief of Detectives for the LAPD. He was also a millionaire, who rode around in a chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce, and hung out with high-society types. He had a car phone in that Roller that he seemed to use often. He'd pick it up, dial the operator and say something like "Put me through to Harrison 46409" and he'd talk to the other person. I remember this because I was a little kid at that time, and my Mom loved that show. I remember that phone and thinking then how cool that was, to be able to talk on a phone in a car! Nowadays, I love to see every cell phone disappear!
i always loved seeing them in customs in little pages mags, so i put a fake one in my car. sometimes we talk on it while waiting at traffic lights and mess with peoples heads next to us.
Damn, that is an awesome interior. I was just looking at the photos of your car and decided to move to Australia and let yuor family adopt me. I'd fit right in; I saw the Rebel flag on the left wing window!
I agree with Squirrel. The ones I can remember from the early 60's that were functional were huge units. I doubt that any we now see in the little books ever did work
My dad has 2 cell phones, the one my mom, his ex wife has the number for, that if you call it, it goes straight to voicemail, he can dial out from it, but all calls in go straight to voicemail. His second phone, rings, if he can't answer, the call is forwarded to his other phone and his voicemail. A second phone on plans usually isn't much, like extra $10 a month, maybe keep a second phone in your pocket that you can dial out on but your regular number dials into your car for receiving calls.
Something tells me you are maybe not a kustom guy.'Sense' doesn't really come into it. "I want short - wave radio I want TV and a phone You know I gotta talk to my baby When I'm ridin' alone" - Chuck Berry 'No money down' Paul
No Im not a KUSTom guy,If it wont make it start ,run,stop or go faster why have it.Hell I dont even have a cell phone,If i could get rid of my House phone I would do that too.I guess I just Hate Phones.The less time I spend on the PHONE the better I like it.I find it very ironic that people spend time on the internet ,discussing TRADITIONAL CARS and such worldwide in the blink of an eye..With mostly Chinese built Computers.Hardly Traditional,I never thought I would be needing a computer,I dont really,I have a giant Mac computer that will and can do way more stuff than I even care about.I never could and still cant type.There is a great big giant world of old folks out there who aint computer savy or cell phone savy.Get out there and talk to them and gain their knowledge by talking to them first hand.How did we function before the age of all these damn dipshits driving around yakking on the phone instead of driving and paying attention to the road? Quite Well Thank you...Dont Call me.......I'll be busy in the shop.
Man, I'm sorry if I pissed you off, or you're having a bad day, or if you're dog died or the IRS caught up with you, I really am. But it doesn't alter the fact that this thread isn't really about cell phones, it's about traditional Kustoms and you have completely missed the point.If you don't get it,move along and leave it to folks who do. Have a nice day, Paul.
My dad had a phone in his 59 Buick. The base unit was mounted in the trunk. The reciever had a light that blinked and chirped while the ignition was on to inform you of an incomming call, and the horn would blow if the ignition was off and you were outside of the car. Worked great for my dads business. Now all that fits right in a shirt pocket. Technology is amazing for those of us that remember how primative some things were.
I grew up across the street from a Teamsters Union Hall in Indiana and all of the fat cats who were there had phones in their cars
i have 2 phones that are mounted in a small box.. with battery inside.. one of the first Mobil phones.... kind of cool ... now if i can find out how to get service ....
they won't work anymore, the FCC let the phone companies disconnect analog service this year, doesn't affect a lot of the country, but a lot of places out west, digital phones simply aren't strong enough to work. also a lot of newer cars that had onstar ,talking about within the last few years, worked on the old analog system. there is no way to repair them to work. thats why i was talking about modifying the brick phone to work with the bluetooth unit, you keep the phone in your pocket and it seems like the old brick is working.
Ok,man,you are obviously a hardcore hotrodder,no one is disputing that,but you are trying to innappropriately force a hotrodder,'s view of a kustom accessory on a bunch of kustom guys talking traditional KUSTOMS. If you don't like a phone in your HOT ROD,fine,don't have one,but don't try and tell people who where around back then that they weren't both available or desirable,which in my book makes them TRADITIONAL.Hell mine is just for show,I don't agree with yapping on cellphones whilst driving either.But I want a phone in my kustom for flash,so I figured I might as well make it functional for shItz'n'giggles.My car,my decision,my insignificant little contribution to tech week.YOU seem to be the only one with a problem with that so far,tough guy.Me,I like the little comforts in my ride.Its a kustom,and all about luxury.I'll let you freeze your ass off and pick flies out of your teeth.I'll just bet the "only music you need is the sound of your V8"too. Later Paul Sorry for the rant and taking this thread off topic,but these 'more hot rod than thou' types grind my gears
Anyone remember the scene from The Love Bug? When Thorndyke made the mobile call from the back seat of his Rolls? "This is mobile KQX-325, I need 555-3143"
There's a story about Lord Lucas (the Prince of Darkness) and Lord Austin (the car maker). They were always trying to get one up on each other. Lord Lucas had a radio phone fitted to his Rolls in the late 40's and would ring Austin at his office making sure to tell him that he was in his car en route to somewhere. Lord Austin could not stand this and decided to get his own phone installed. First call he makes is to Lucas's car phone. The Chauffer answers and tells him "Sorry sir, Lord Lucas is unavailable. He's speaking on the other line......".
I watch a few American TV shows - and I'm now convinced EVERY phone number in the whole of the U.S. starts with 555.
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