Radio aerial

[Nairobi912]

Hello
I have just discovered while re assembling that my aerial is sad and in need of replacement. Any suggestion on brand or type that suit swb 912?

cheers
Dean

[Terminator]

Gees who knows what was fitted to an African car as STD, I install a cheepee and then do some research in the meantime.

[HughH]

The aerial hole is in the RHS. that means that it will have been an electrical aerial and not a manual one. Therefore most likely factory fitted even if a radio was not. A kardex will confirm if that is correct or not.
If factory fitted it will almost certainly be a Hirschmann like this one Hirschmann Hit Auto 5091 automatic-antenna but almost certainly with a chrome tip rather than a black one

They are still readily available

[Nairobi912]

Thanks for the info Hugh
Great Help

D

[SportoEvans]

The aerial hole is in the RHS. that means that it will have been an electrical aerial and not a manual one. Therefore most likely factory fitted even if a radio was not. A kardex will confirm if that is correct or not.
If factory fitted it will almost certainly be a Hirschmann like this one Hirschmann Hit Auto 5091 automatic-antenna but almost certainly with a chrome tip rather than a black one

They are still readily available

Hugh - Why is the aerial electric if it's opening is on the RHS?

My 66 912 has the original radio factory fitted (my kardex says radio with accessories, so I assume that's the aerial) and the aerial is a manual.

[HughH]

Mark
The factory had a practice of putting the aerial on the LHS but there was no room for the electric ones on that side because of the fuel filler mechanism and piping etc

So the electric ones went on the RHS. For a LHD car that was fine as they could do the manual aerial from the drivers side but did not have to walk around to the other side as those were automatic

There is a possibility that for a RHD car there may have been a manual one on the RHS. However even for RHD cars I have always seen original manual aerials on the LHS making them more difficult to use. It is more likely that IF a manual one is on the RHS for a RHD car it was either dealer installed (again ease of use for a RHD car) or an electric one that was later replaced by an owner

But, as always with these cars, there are exceptions

[e72phil]

Hugh, just to add another comment, if the car was Aust delivered, I beleive Hamiltons never shipped them without radios factory fitted due to theft by the wharfies when unloading the cars to the dock and also so Hamiltons could make some more money. So I assume the factory also deleted the aerial installation leaving it to the local dealer to fit radio and antenna.

What you say makes sense for other markets other than RHD and I always thought it was due to the lack of space in that area of the front guards due to the fuel filler and piping taking up most of the space in that rear upper area of the front guard.

For those of us who own or have owned a LHD 911, you always understood why the petrol flap door release and the hood and engine lid release were located where they are by the designers (even on RHD cars). I would assume a similar line of thinking applied to the antennas.

[HughH]

Phil
the lack of radios fitted at the factory for Australian ordered cars (apart from tourist delivery ones) was in part due to theft and Hamilton's wanting an extra margin but mostly due to the high tariffs on imported cars at the time combined with the very high (relatively) price of radios fitted at the factory
By bringing the cars in without the radio but (I believe at least in most cases) with speakers, Aerial and equipment to stop the electrical interference from the engine, they could fit good Phillips radios or Japanese branded ones at a much lower price than the factory fitted ones and still make a good margin for themselves.
for example I have a 1971 USA price list that has a Frankfurt AM/FM radio (probably about mid range in the ones they offered ) for USD $195 compare that with TWO sports seats for $80 or a LSD for $170 !!! and then add tariffs of over 35% at the time and you can see why they did it

[SportoEvans]

Thanks Hugh & Phil.

I forgot to mention that my 912 was a factory tourist delivery in August 1966.

The radio is on the kardex, so both the radio and the aerial would have been fitted by the factory.

What I don't know is if the aerial was originally electrically operated and then replaced by a manual version at a later date in Australia or not.