To ask if cars that would have been on the road in 1960 would have had a wireless/radio?

[Hormonecure]

I would love someone to help me with this. Would a character be able to listen to music on a car radio in 1960? In England. Thanks x

Most people drove British-made cars in 1960. Ordinary brands eg Ford, Vauxhall, Austin, Morris would not have had radios fitted as standard. You could, however, buy a radio and have it fitted to your car.

Posh brands, eg Jaguar, Aston Martin, Rolls Royce would have had them.

Don't forget most people had old cars from the 50s in 1960. My dad was driving in the early 60s and had a succession of terrible old cars that he spent forever fixing. So a car made in 1960 would have been out of his reach.

They would have been able to listen to a radio and a built in record player in the car in 1960!

True Francis my dad was a graduate with a good job.

It was not at all uncommon not to have a fridge or telephone in 1960 either

I knew a minority of people in the 70s and 80s whose parents chose not to have a phone. Or a television. (They probably spent a lot of time writing letters complaining that more businesses were using the phone than correspondence.)

My DF used to keep stuff from cars he sold on. We had a box full of 8-tracks, and couple of 1960s valve car radios. Took about 5 minutes to warm up, and you could cook an egg on them.

Okay I actually phoned my parents about this, they’re extremely elderly, my dad insists they had music in cars by the late fifties and my mum not so sure but definitely in the sixties. They had a mixture of US and European cars between them.

In the mid 60s I went out with a lad who has a Vanden Plas Princess which had a radio.
(I should have kept him! )

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_audio

Here is a Wiki article about the history of audio in cars. The answer is yes, many cars had an AM radio fitted in the 1960s.

In 1963 we got a Ford Anglia saloon, it was cream with a red interior. I remember sitting in the back for the first time alongside my mother and admiring the fact my red dungarees were the same colour as the vinyl seat, and working out why my legs wouldn't bend over the front of the seat and reach the floor like my mother's. Seat belts were fitted retrospectively. Had mirrors both front wings, but no radio.
Next car was a Cortina Estate, bought about 2 or 3 years later, cream with a green stripe, greeney grey seats, this had no radio, but to the left of the driver had an ash tray on the dash - my father used to write out small cards with The Route, and wedge them in the open ash tray. Below that was a slidey lever thing which I think was the heating perhaps? This also had wing mirrors.
Found a picture of the exact thing: Cortina Mk1 interior
I can see there's a panel looks removable for the optional extra I assume or retro fit radio (we didn't have one)
In 1969 we got a Mk2, again it was a similar layout - we had a near the bottom of the range model and again the seatbelts were optional extras, no radio fitted but a space you could put one. There were a LOT of aftermarket retrospectively fitted radios, sometimes these were fixed with brackets below the dashboard.
If you had an upmarket car then the radio came as standard.
I'd say it depends on the make and model of your 1960s car - and don't forget Radio 1-4 weren't yet a 'thing' until Sept 67, commercial radio was launched in '73. Offshore pirate radio was launched in about 64 but the Marine Offences Act outlawed it in August 67. Before R1-4 you had the Light and Home services

I’m so impressed with the detail of your car memories Ariela! I can only remember being sick on almost every car journey and the fuel cap being hidden beneath the rear plate where petrol station attendants in the uk could never find it.

In one of the St Trinian's films, the Joyce Grenfell character is the long-term fiancée of a police officer, and at one point, the plot involves missing an important message because the car radio is tuned to a music channel rather than being tuned for police messages. It was an offence to tune into police radio signals, if you acted on them (I can remember my Uncle tuning in just for a laugh; we must have been hard-pressed for entertainment).
So they certainly existed, but my very first car, a humble second-hand 1960's Mini, certainly didn't have such refinements (or seatbelts, come to that......)
So if your character is the type to have a more upmarket car, it's possible.

Not necessarily. Depends on the car. Not a standard bit of kit.

Wow, what an interesting thread! You all have great memories. I can barely remember what I wrote in my last book. No kidding.

This eleventy billion and one middle aged man (love being able to self identify as that age again) says:

My first car was a 1954 Sunbeam-Talbot 90.

It had a Wireless as Radios were called then. AM obviously, not FM.

The part inside the car was the same size as modern ones.

Under the bonnet was a large ventilated steel box containing the valve amplifier. It was the same size as the battery.

Around 1964 my uncle had a record player in his car - played 45 rpm singles. Jumped a bit when you hit a bump and not really very practical.

My great grandfather had a police radio in the 1950s that was huge - took up the backseat of the car.

Our 1970s registered car had a radio that was fitted as an after market item. When it was sold the radio was removed and installed in the mid 80s brand new car that did not have a radio as standard. You could get one as an optional extra or buy them from car shops like halfords. Car radios were also relatively commonly stolen and sold on.

Hormonecure, you'll have to write a bit in the foreword thanking all the MNers who've helped you with your research

every one suggesting Google - what's wrong with starting a conversation? If we just googled everything then there would be no point of forums.
I was a child in the 60's and my parents had a HIllman Imp and it didn't have a radio

Car radios were also relatively commonly stolen and sold on.

Hence car alarms got more sophisticated. Although, there were scallies who used to steal and sell car alarms, for lolz .

I'd say it depends on the make and model of your 1960s car - and don't forget Radio 1-4 weren't yet a 'thing' until Sept 67, commercial radio was launched in '73. Offshore pirate radio was launched in about 64 but the Marine Offences Act outlawed it in August 67. Before R1-4 you had the Light and Home services

Plus the third programme (classical). In terms of pop music on the radio, Pick of the Pops was played on the light programme from 1957 onwards and Radio Luxembourg played pop music, but you could only pick that up after nightfall in the UK.

Cars were out of reach for most ordinary folk back then.

My Dad was a shop worker and my mother a teacher - they bought their first car in the late 50s. It wasn't that rare and some "ordinary folk" did have them.

Most people didn’t actually have a car in 1960.

Far less one with a radio.

Cars were out of reach for most ordinary folk back then.

I teach the history of post war Britain at a university and it fascinates me thr misconceptions people have about the 60s, it was a boom time for most consumers, real wages were rising significantly and by 1961, just shy of 60% British households owned a car, caused in part by the widespread availability of cheaper credit.

My granndad and uncle both ran (secon hand) cars from the late 50s on miners' wages.