So what styles were given to antenna mods back in the day? What would be a period touch to modifying my antenna on my 39 plymouth roadster? Im actually modifying a 1940 Pilot FM radio to work on my car, so I want to go with a custom antenna, as it will have a period correct custom radio in it, and on a frequency that still has something decent to listen to on it.
My 1941 Ford has an antenna someone mounted on the passenger side of the cowl with two mounting brackets about 6" apart. looks original for that year. My 1939 Ford has one in the center of the cowl mounted to the center of the windshield. A Model A and 1933 Chevy had the wire hooked to the wire screen in the roof. A few old cars had the antenna mounted under the running board.
My '38 Chrysler has it on the driver's side cowl, and I believe that is the original location You can see it in this picture if you squint: .
In the 1932 Model PB Plymouth closed cars, the chicken wire under the roof material was the radio antenna. There was a wire leading down through the driver's windshield post to attach to a radio. I have no clue what they did on the open cars, although some brands had an antenna mounted flat beneath a running board.