£495.00
1 in stock
The English Kresta Electric Co car radio of 1947 remains one of the most unusual car radio designs ever created and is a very rare survivor now. Unlike standard radios which opt for a tuning knob that scrolls through a display on the dash, the Kresta has a vertical tuning knob that was mounted discreetly beside the sun visor. By twisting the protruding stem that worked on a screw thread, the driver could scroll between medium and long waves with the associated speaker mounted under the dash. Overall it was a revolutionary design which ultimately never took off. Although the driver wouldn’t easily be able to see which station was which while driving (the main stations are lit up in tiny print on the tuning knob only) they would have been able to change stations safely without taking their focus off the road.
This listing is for a complete pairing of the original tuner and speaker which we have just restored to fully working. As a highly unusual design with many bespoke parts my experienced restorer admitted that this was one of the hardest repairs he has had to undertake. Although I wouldn’t recommend putting this radio into regular use, it is a great talking point for any car enthusiast or museum.
For a bit of history about the Kresta Company please click my blog post here.
Here is a short video of the radio being tested.
