The Dodge Challenger Message Board

I have a 71 Challenger R/T built in January of 1971, it has a AM/FM radio in it, but it does not have the thumbwheel style radio, it has the regular round knobs. I told the previous owner that the radio has to be out of a 72 to 74 E Body. He said sometime in 1971, Mopar went from the thumbwheel style to the knob style radio. Is he right?

DanaProsky wrote:I have a 71 Challenger R/T built in January of 1971, it has a AM/FM radio in it, but it does not have the thumbwheel style radio, it has the regular round knobs. I told the previous owner that the radio has to be out of a 72 to 74 E Body. He said sometime in 1971, Mopar went from the thumbwheel style to the knob style radio. Is he right?

wait a minute mine is a 70 and came with the thumb wheel,im not sure he right maybe he got them switched,ask dave for sure!

DanaProsky wrote:He said sometime in 1971, Mopar went from the thumbwheel style to the knob style radio. Is he right?

The thumbwheel radios were available only in 1970-1971, right? I think I remember it from somewhere.

The knob style radios were available 1970-1974.

I don´t think that answer will give you much help, or?

Try this web site to help identify e body radios.
http://www.wardsclassiccarradiorepair.com/id15.html
Bob

What my guy is saying is that some later 1971 am/fm e-body radios used the knob style not the thumbwheel style. Wards Radio says all 70-71 E-body am/fm radios are thumbwhell style. All Am radios are the knob style. I am going to pull the radio out of the car and get the numbers off it, maybe that will help determine the year of it.

jh27n0b wrote:Try this web site to help identify e body radios.
http://www.wardsclassiccarradiorepair.com/id15.html
Bob

Great link! Did you know this?:

"There never was an AM FM 8-track available for E bodies, ever. Period. Those AM FM 8-track radios you see on e-bay are in fact C body radios."

I didn´t.

christer wrote:

jh27n0b wrote:Try this web site to help identify e body radios.
http://www.wardsclassiccarradiorepair.com/id15.html
Bob

Great link! Did you know this?:

"There never was an AM FM 8-track available for E bodies, ever. Period. Those AM FM 8-track radios you see on e-bay are in fact C body radios."

I didn´t.

ahaa thats good to know!

Dana, I do not know the answer to your question. Like you said check the date code if there is one. With a January build date, that seems early to have a late 71 radio. I thought that you might be able to contact Wards radio and ask them. Maybe Barry Washington knows.

Chris, I did not know this. Seems like a very informative site.

Do you know that AM/FM antennaes are fixed length and AM only radios are telescoping.

Bob

jh27n0b wrote:Do you know that AM/FM antennaes are fixed length and AM only radios are telescoping.

Bob

Really? I thought the opposite, that is that FM antennas were telescopic. I guess I was wrong then.