In the winter of 1956 , Chrysler unveiled a serial ofimprovementsto their lineup of car . There was LifeGuard , a latch that prevented doors from flinging open in the consequence of an accident . Modern windshield wiper blade promise to strip 10 pct more of the methamphetamine hydrochloride surface than the previous year ’s example . And for those consumers willing to spend an surplus $ 200 — the equivalent of about $ 1700 today — there was the Highway Hi - Fi , a mill - installed criminal record player ride under the car ’s dashboard .
Using an “ pliable three - breaker point suspension , ” the social unit dally “ non - breakable ” 7 - inch records . In advertizement copy , Chrysler vaunt that the discs would never skip , not even during sharp turns or while crossing railway tracks . “ It ’s almost impossible to jar the weapon off the phonograph recording , ” the company promised , anticipating the in question looks of dealer and buyers likewise .
As it turned out , attempting to spin a record while in a moving vehicle was every routine as problematic as it might voice . But before 8 - track , cassettes , Cd , and satellite radio , the Highway Hi - Fi play thefirst opportunityfor driver to have some control over what they were listening to . They had self-reliance — freedom to diverge from wireless programmer , invasive ads , and irksome talk shows .
course , wireless Stations of the Cross hated the mind .
This bizarre self-propelled change was the effect of an engineering genius who wanted to get his kid to shut up . Peter Goldmark washeadof CBS Labs , a position which afforded him the resource to pursue other innovations . ( He ’s widely credited with ushering in the modern system of transmit color television . ) He was the discoverer of long - play ( LP ) records , which play vinyl at 33 and one - third revolutions per minute ( revolutions per minute ) instead of 78 . Introduced in 1948 , LPs revolutionized the medicine industry , packingmore information onto the 12 - inch discs by etch microgrooves into the vinyl group and allowing producers to place up to 60 minutes of music on a side .
In the 1950s , Goldmark ’s sonobservedthat drivers had no influence over what was being broadcast via the transistor radios that had become standard in fomite . While you could alternate stations , you were still at the mercy of programming directors and their tastes in medicine .
As inventors tend to do , Goldmark place the trouble and then sought out a way to remedy it . His own existence , the LP , was far too big to have any hard-nosed lotion in a fomite : The turntable would hang over a passenger ’s knees . The 45 RPM record was much smaller but could only contain about five minutes of music on each side . Forcing someone to try and change records with such relative frequency while drive would probably result in stroke .
Goldmark devised a new option . Using a 7 - in record , he created a airfoil with ultra - microgrooves that played at 16 and two - thirds rev . Each side couldhold45 second of euphony , a far more hardheaded root for people who could n’t tend to the lazy Susan easily . It also fit snugly under the dash , projecting out at the push of a button so the user could load a record and set the needle before agitate it back underneath and out of the way .
Goldmark made other accommodation . The vinyl group records werethickerthan standard LPs so they would be more warmth - resistant during the summer month . He also developed a bounce inclosure to suck jar and a counterweight acerate leaf weapon to make indisputable it would n’t jump off the disk while journey over bumps .
Goldmark tested it in a CBS executive ’s Thunderbird . It worked cleanly . He loved it .
CBS CEO William Paley hat it .
Perhaps feeling slightly irritable , Goldmark alternatively go directly to his potential customer : a car manufacturer . Visiting with Chrysler executive Lynn Townsend , Goldmarksoldthe ship’s company on the splasher disk player as a factory option . He rode along during a tryout drive , with Chrysler employees driving over swelling , railroad track caterpillar track , and other obstacles to see if the record skipped . It did n’t . The company govern 18,000 Highway Hi - Fi units , a sizable investment that Paley could n’t ignore .
CBS Labs deal - produce the devices , and Chrysler begin instructing their dealers to pitch the add - on to prospective purchaser . Each unit would hail with six records , with the alternative to buy more through CBS - Columbia , a record label that manufacture the unique discs . Owing to Paley ’s influence — he hate rock medicine — the option were extremely equable . Car owners got the soundtrack to thePajama GameBroadway melodic , some Tchaikovsky , a nothingness record , a striking reading of a George Bernard Shaw sport , and strain from Disney’sDavy Crocketttelevision series . ( The latter was advertise to “ help keep [ kids ] quiet . ” ) The catalog offered spoken - word reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg .
owe to their smaller grooves , the record could n’t be played on conventional turntable . Given the natural selection , that was belike a blessing .
The limited selection was one trouble . The functionality of the Highway Hi - Fi was another . Goldmark had examine the equipment in a Thunderbird and in eminent - end Chrysler vehicles , but the society offered the simple machine in their economic Dodge and Plymouth model , which both had modest shock absorber soaking up . The record could and did skip , and the model were the source of several claims against the car ’s warranty coverage . Local mechanics were n’t audiophiles and did n’t have the knowledge to make round-eyed repair . As Word of God spread , Chrysler went fromselling3685 Hi - Fi unit in 1956 to just 675 in 1957 .
The choice was give up shortly thereafter , but that was n’t quite the destruction for railroad car - mounted disc . In 1960 , RCA thought they had resolved some of the outstanding issues with their Victrola , which played 45s and overcame the scant track time problem by construct a 14 - magnetic disc modifier . When one track record was finished , the unit would automatically expend another in its place . Similar to a jukebox , the needle was upside down and the record lowered on top of it to reduce skipping . Records slide into a expansion slot in a manner like to the CD players that were decades out .
The Victrola was picked up by Chrysler . It performed well than the Highway Hi - Fi , was inexpensive ( $ 51.75 ) , and did n’t force users to fix themselves to the paltry pick of CBS ’s usance discs . But it did n’t last long either ; it was discontinued in 1961 . ( Another pick , the UK ’s Auto - Mignon , played 45s with manual switching : Each of the four Beatles was say to own one . ) Before anyone could think to better upon it further , 8 - track arrived and shortly became the portable car speech sound source of option . CBS never follow through on plans to equip taxi , airplanes , jalopy , and other forms of transferral with their gadget . In the evolution of on - requirement euphony and auto transport products , the Highway Hi - Fi was one step best skipped .
