Rear-Installed Radio Antennas

[Brian Styles]

A previous topic identified which cars did and which cars didn't receive radios at the San Jose plant.

While conducting this research, we came across a number of cars that had the radio antenna installed to the rear of the car. 

While some of these could certainly be owner-relocated antennas, we began to wonder if we might find a pattern whereby the rear-installed antennas tended to be found on cars sold by specific dealerships.

We hope that owners of these and other cars will continue to contribute to this data-gathering exercise. This topic will be updated with new information and revised totals from time-to-time. 

Scanning the footnotes of the 2011 Registry we've identified the following list of cars where it was mentioned that the dealer was responsible for installing or relocating the radio antenna to the rear of the car.

The law of large numbers should dictate that dealers who've been identified as having performed this operation on some cars, probably performed it on numerous other cars without documentation...  

Loftus and Tasca are the leaders by a substantial margin.

There are two primary reasons that an antenna would be relocated to the rear of the car:

1. To solve the radio interference issue that appeared after transitioning from the steel under-structure to the all fiberglass hood.
   
2. Aesthetics - perhaps the dealer was able to up-sell this option for a few extra bucks?
   

While both reasons are likely, I suspect the radio interference reason would be the justification for most antenna relocations. This is yet another problem with the '67 design that was ultimately addressed by Ford with their design of the '68 Shelby Cobra G.T.

Once the data is collected, we'll need to weed-out the day-2 owner-installed rear antennas to keep the data-set clean.

The legend for the Radio column is as follows:

AM   = AM radio installed at San Jose

AM+ = No radio at Ford San Jose, but radio added by SAI-LAX (per car's Production Order)

 --     = no radio installed at San Jose (but must have been added by SAI or dealer, else no reason to have a radio antenna) -- Need Production Orders to verify.

Table 1: sorted by SAI completion date, as this is usually a better method of identifying changes related to how the cars were built.

Seq	Pkg	Trim	Paint	Radio	SAI Complete	Dealer	Research Notes
0265	400F	5A	4	--	1/4/1967	Fogg Motors Ltd.
0369	410F	5A	8	AM	1/24/1967	J.D. Ball Ford, Inc.
0077	200F	5A	2	AM	1/25/1967	Tasca Ford Sales, Inc.
0421	412F	5A	7	--	2/16/1967	Tasca Ford Sales, Inc.
0905	400F	5A	7	AM	3/3/1967	Jim Aikey Ford, Inc.
1300	200F	5A	7	--	4/4/1967	Wood-Larkin Ltd.
0732	400F	5U	4	--	4/6/1967	City Motors
1470	200F	5A	4	--	4/12/1967	Tom Bohr Inc
1705	200F	5A	9	--	4/13/1967	Milo Brooke, Inc.
1335	211F	6A	6	--	4/19/1967	Jack Loftus Ford, Inc.
1676	200F	5A	5	--	4/20/1967	J.D. Ball Ford, Inc.
1706	200F	5A	5	--	4/25/1967	Dick Bohn Ford Company, Inc.
0795	400F	5U	2	--	4/26/1967	Coberly Ford
1875	410F	5A	4	AM+	4/26/1967	Community Ford
1677	200F	5A	8	--	4/28/1967	University Ford Sales, Inc.
1715	200F	5A	8	--	5/1/1967	Rankin Ford Sales Ltd.
1791	211F	5A	5	--	5/6/1967	Dick Bohn Ford Company, Inc.	Registry state that radio relocation to rear was performed as a WARRANTY claim.
2178	400F	5A	9	--	5/23/1967	Tasca Ford Sales, Inc.
2432	200F	5A	2	--	5/24/1967	Future Ford, Inc.
2469	400F	5A	0	--	6/6/1967	Tasca Ford Sales, Inc.	Per registry, antenna was mounted on the rear deck lid by the dealer.
1935	211F	5A	8	--	6/7/1967	Canyon Ford, Inc.
2660	212F	5A	8	--	6/10/1967	Hi-Performance Motors (ES)
2736	202F	5A	2	--	6/16/1967	Hi-Performance Motors (ES)
0541	402F	5A	2	--	6/21/1967	Warren-Anderson Ford
2960	410F	5A	8	--	6/27/1967	Tasca Ford Sales, Inc.
3012	200F	5A	7	--	7/5/1967	Jack Loftus Ford, Inc.
2767	211F	5A	7	AM	7/5/1967	Ron's Ford Sales
3116	400F	5A	5	--	7/10/1967	Jack Loftus Ford, Inc.	Registry states that antenna was installed to rear per SAI instructions.
3101	410F	5A	5	--	7/12/1967	Tasca Ford Sales, Inc.	Per registry, antenna was mounted on the rear deck lid by the dealer.
3115	400F	5A	5	--	7/17/1967	Jack Loftus Ford, Inc.
3217	412F	5A	2	--	7/21/1967	Frank Cate Ford
2723	400F	5A	7	--	7/21/1967	Jack Loftus Ford, Inc.	Per registry this relocation happened while car was in dealer's inventory!!
2734	411F	5A	8	AM	7/24/1967	Foreign Car Center
2724	400F	5A	7	--	8/22/1967	Jack Loftus Ford, Inc.	Per registry this relocation happened while car was in dealer's inventory!!

The above list totals 34 cars -- approximately 1% of the 3,224 car total production. Keep in mind, it's a big registry - We may have missed some cars...

Table 2: Quantity of antennas relocated to the rear by the dealer (according to the registry, from the above list)

Dealer	Qty
Jack Loftus Ford, Inc.	6
Tasca Ford Sales, Inc.	6
Dick Bohn Ford Company, Inc.	2
Hi-Performance Motors (ES)	2
J.D. Ball Ford, Inc.	2
Canyon Ford, Inc.	1
City Motors	1
Coberly Ford	1
Community Ford	1
Fogg Motors Ltd.	1
Foreign Car Center	1
Frank Cate Ford	1
Future Ford, Inc.	1
Jim Aikey Ford, Inc.	1
Milo Brooke, Inc.	1
Rankin Ford Sales Ltd.	1
Ron's Ford Sales	1
Tom Bohr Inc	1
University Ford Sales, Inc.	1
Warren-Anderson Ford	1
Wood-Larkin Ltd.	1

Table 3: Count of all reported rear antennas, by dealer, filtered to >1. (updated 2020-05-26)

What does this allow us to theorize? Perhaps that if you have a later-built car (with full fiberglass hood), there's the real possibility that the car had a rear-installed antenna, and an even higher chance if sold by one of the dealers mentioned above.

Related topic: How many cars received a factory AM radio?

[Rich Plescia]

Hi Brian,

I have a (copyrighted watermarked) color photo found on eBay of an Acapulco Blue GT500 (believed to be #2705) at Hi-Performance Motors (ES).

It was noted as taken in July '67 and owned by Edsel Ford II.

The registry notes it was a Shelby American Company Car for Edsel Ford II and shipped to him on 7/5/67 at Menlo College, in CA.

The car has an antenna mounted on the right rear quarter.

Rich

[Brian Styles]

Hey Rich,

I do show late-built car #2705 (SAI completed 6/30/1967) on the list of company cars, Shelby automotive division, and assigned to Edsel Ford II.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TpVk23GGlsREuGHcHWic71b_K8nhvEzmJobNym39ZLo/edit?usp=sharing

No notes in the registry about a rear antenna, thus not on the list above.

If we can get confirmation of the car number, I'll add it to notes and the list.

If we can't, I guess it still demonstrates that antennas were installed to the rear by dealers, and sometimes without paperwork.

By the way, if we can figure out who purchased the photo, or who the sellers was, it would be good to contact them.  To copyright a photograph, you have to be the photographer or have purchased rights to the photograph. Either he must be the original photographer or he must have knew the photographer  to purchase the rights. Either way he might be a great contact and may be able to help with this research. -or- he's just blowing smoke and has no claim to a copyright.

[Rich Plescia]

I think Brian Glover may have bought those photos from eBay, but I might be wrong. This was back in May of 2017. Maybe he'll chime in here and confirm either way.

[Brian Glover]

Sorry guys, that wasn't me.  I purchased the pics of the 1967 Shelby at the Detroit Auto Show.  For the record, Brian tipped me off as to their availability on eBay a couple years ago.  Thanks Brian.

[carlev...@gmail.com]

1967 GT500 #0167 has motorized radio antenna installed on rear driver side fender.  The antenna is controlled by a switch under the dash left of the steering wheel.  The dealer is Sexton Ford Sales Moline Il.  Dealer number 56A203.  The original owner worked in the parts department of the dealer. 

[Rich Plescia]

That's very interesting history Carl, thanks for sharing!

By any chance do you know the part number of the power antenna? I've heard of a Ford power antenna that was sourced from a Lincoln on Little Red and maybe the Green Hornet as well.

[Brian Styles]

Received from Chris Simon. Posting on his behalf:

You can add car #1214 - G.T. 500  4-speed. Dealer was Wood-Larkin.  Rear mount on drivers side.

Admin Notes: 

SAI-completed: 4/20/1967, and shipped: 5/25/1967

Antenna not mentioned in registry.

Hoping for more information from owner...

[styl...@gmail.com]

#3190 - GT500 4-speed. 

Right Rear Antenna installation - Dockery Ford.

information provided by owner, Don Johnson.

[michaelpflatley]

When mounted on the rear quarter, is a cable extension necessary?

[Rich Plescia]

Hi Michael,

I believe a longer antenna cable would be required to reach the radio to antenna if mounted on the rear quarter. We know the antenna was intended by Ford to be mounted on the right front fender (attached is the template for this location). It is safe to assume the antenna kit supplied by Ford, with the shipped car, only included a short cable to follow Ford's direction. The routing of the cable to a rear mounted antenna would have been the service technicians choice at the dealer and the cable was likely sourced from another Ford or local parts supplier. 

[michaelpflatley]

Thanks Rich, I was curious if there was a FoMoCo antenna assembly that came with the extended cable that dealers that were doing the rear quarter install were grabbing off the shelf.

[Brian Styles]

As of 5/26/2020, we're at 75 cars with rear antenna installations reported. 

Of course, some of these are going to end-up being owner-installed, but first, we must collect the data before we can sort through it. 

Keep the data coming!

Cross-referencing this to selling dealer, the top three dealers associated with the rear radio antennas are:

5+ units: Jack Loftus and Tasca

3 units: Brondes Motor Sales, Foreign Car Center, Hi-Performance, and Wood-Larkin

2 units: Dick Bohn, El Paso Auto Center, J.D. Ball, Milo Brooke, Paradise Ford Sales, and Warren-Anderson

Original post updated with table.

[Brian Styles]

A couple of photos provided by Mark Showalter from his #2009 car sold through Ray Hunt Ford in Daytona Beach, FL.

They show a completely stock Ford antenna assembly, including firewall grommet and right-angle RCA male connector which would normally attach to the back of the radio.

That couples to the female RCA connector on the cable running from the trunk to the radio.

If you have a rear-installed radio antenna, please send in some pictures for comparison.

[Clarence Converse]

Hey Brian, I just wanted to add 2928 onto your rear antenna cars. Mine is on the drivers side.
Since the car was sold through SA would they have done the install? Clarence

[Brian Styles]

Hi Clarence,

We show #2928 as a 'Company Car' for the Shelby Automotive division tagged for 'Engineering' use.

With a company car, anything is possible...

The Ford record indicates it left San Jose without a radio, so we'd like to see the Shelby Production Order to see if a radio was added at LAX. If Shelby added a radio, and was using the car, then it would make sense that they installed a radio antenna. Now if Shelby added a radio, that's not a guarantee that the antenna was installed on the quarter, but given such a late built car and knowing that SAI was well-aware of the interference issues at this time, it wouldn't surprise me...

Vintage in-period of other cars, like #0003, #0018, #0050, #0100, #0131, #0139, #0176, #0463, #1075, etc. all show antennas installed while serving as company cars.

[larrymspradlin]

Like#0167 my car #2100 also has a motorized antenna installed on the rear driver side.   However it was sold at Rich Ford Albuquerque, NM

[Brian S]

Here's a photo of the 'other method' of solving the engine/radio EMI problem.

Glue a sheet of aluminum foil under the all-fiberglass hood.

We've seen this solution implemented on more than one car. 

...personally, I like the rear-mounted antenna solution much better!

[comer.colin]

Brian on 1797 the original selling dealer bonded metal screen material (like a screen door) under the hood for the radio interference issue. Supposedly on the advice of SAI according to the original owner. Certainly a unique solution!

[Stephan Scholz]

on this Commercial Video Advertising Car 0463 is wearing rear mounting antenna ...

[Brian S]

Both '68 advertising cars (#0139 and #0463) started out in '67 configuration. 

#0139 was completed by SAI in early December 1966. It started out with the 'inboard' highbeam configuration.

With overheating issues plaguing the first three GT500 Air/Con cars (#0100, #0131, #0139), the highbeams were moved to the outboard location, likely in February 1967; a louvered hood was also added. 

#0463, also an engineering car, may have been fitted with the outboard highbeams from the start. It was designated as the "AC Cooling Test" car.

 

Read our topic on the GT500 Air Conditioning cars

After serving engineering duty as the AC Cooling Test car, we estimate #0463 (and #0139) were repurposed as the '68 advertising cars, and were fitted with their Ford-designed / A.O. Smith-fabricated fiberglass components in April of 1967, with the first advertising photos being taken in May 1967.

As part of the '68 styling conversion, #0139's antenna was never relocated, However, #0463's was ... but not initially.

Here's are pictures of #0463 and the radio antenna still on the front.

Advertising photo, circa May May/June 1967 (V1 emblem treatment)

7/7/67 LLTC Event (V2 emblem treatment)

Therefore, because of the antenna relocation, we can conclude the video was filmed sometime after the 7/7/67 LLTC event at Riverside Raceway.

Based on this timeline, it seems to tell us that Ford's decision to relocate the antenna to the rear, may have happened during the last few weeks that SAI was operational at the LAX facility (mid-July 1967 - to the first week in August).

[1967 Shelby Research Group]

Realtime query against the SRG database of car that have been reported to have their radio antenna installed on the left or right quarter panel.

Now with two tabs so you can sort the list by Shelby sequence number or by dealer name:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQmA3UOPkFD62xvnXfH7RWhNaSRUeCpgW-FcxLHf8E0kzPPRpAwJXqwR8a4YYtt8uck-QsWByYvWR_4/pubhtml