Hi, Asad,
I've been reading your posts with interest. It sounds like Project 59 is
well underway!
About the radios: By now you probably have figured out which Blaupunkt
radio model your car has. I could be wrong, but my first impression was
that yours is a Blaupunkt "Heidelberg" model, which came with M, UKW, and K
bands (that's Mittelwellen [AM], Ultra-Kurzwellen [FM], and Kurzwellen
[short wave]).
Actually, in the German domestic market, VWs did indeed come with
factory-optional radio selections. One could order the car with no radio at
all (and then purchase anything available on the open market), or check off
a factory option. I have an original German Owners Manual for my 1970 which
has a page of its own on VW-Autoradios, which it explains are an "M" option
[Mehrausstattung]. In Germany, one could order one's car from the factory
equipped with either the "Braunschweig," the "Emden" or the "Wolfsburg"
radio. The "Braunschweig" had five station pushbuttons [U, U, M, M, and L]
and two "tone" settings, bass or treble, selected by pushing or pulling the
tuning knob. The "Emden" had four pushbuttons to select bands: [U, M, L and
a push-pull for treble-bass] and required turning a knob to select a station
in the selected band. The "Wolfsburg" had four pushbuttons [M and L to
select bands, one for treble, one for bass)
In my 1961 I had a Blaupunkt "Bremen" with M and L (long wave) bands only.
The Long Wave band (150-290 KHz) is used (rarely) in Europe for
broadcasting, but here in the US I got Aviation Weather Service and some
other services on it. Kinda fun.
If you are hoping for a "showroom new" original restoration, maybe you can
find a German service manual for a 1959 model (that is, from Aug 58) on EBay
Deutschland. You can usually find one for 5 to 10 euros. I assume the
other national importers of VWs in European countries also allowed certain
factory radios to be selected by their customers.
Nick and the others are correct: although Volkswagen of America distributed
a variety of radios to its dealers, from various manufacturers, the cars
"crossed the pond" with no radios installed. They were all installed here
by contractors or by Authorized VW Dealers.
Bert
Volks!
I have recently found a vintage VW radio!! It's rare as hen's teeth
here
and although it seems out of order was a great find for me especially as I
had to negotiate with the owner for long.
Its Blaupunkt and was probably taken out of a 65 bug. The two side knobs
are missing however. Radio has 5 white sunbaked brittle push buttons with M,
25, 31, 45 and 60 written from left to right.
The face plate is chrome and dirty but should clean up good. The centre
screen has 6, 9, 12, 16, M in the first row and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, K in the
second row.
Theres a vintage looking round logo with Blaupunkt written in slant at
the centre. The brand name is also written in the screen between the two
station lines. The needle is not visible through the screen and probably
broken.
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