Hi all,
I remember my [much] older brother fitting a new car radio to the family HR not long after our father bought it back when they were new.

The radio had, instead of individual buttons for auto station selection, a single black bar that when pressed, started an electric motor which drove the tuning mechanisim until it sensed increased agc, which stopped the motor on that station.
When it got to the end of the dial, it would spring snap back to the other end.

I think it was called 'Pressmatic', made by who I can't remember. Maybe Ferris??

Does anyone recognise this radio, any info that anyone can share would be much appreciated.

In the USA there were car radios that called this function "Wonderbar", think Callidac had these. Back when car radios used tubes, late 50's. There were signal handling tubes that operated off 12VDC, and a tube driver to drive a transistor that drove the speaker, And I think they used the same or similar transistor driver tube to work the solonoid that operated the tuning motor.

"Whale-oil-beef-hooked!" Never seen those before and they seem to be all over the internet!!

http://www.vintageautoradio.com/index.php?page=...&Itemid=67

The one we had didn't have the preset buttons, only the solid bar which was black plastic, below the dial with nothing written on it and all solid sate as those in the link appear to be.

Thanks for the heads-up on the "Wonderbar"!! [sounds a tad Deutsch ] It's certainly similar.

Pressmatic was a 5 push button AWA radio.

Check eBay item 170665867606 for a picture.

Another popular brand for Holden was Astor AirChief "Diamond Dot". We had one of those in our EH.

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:AN...

I don't recall seeing any local brand single bar tuning car radios and the only Delco Wonderbar radio I've seen is in a mate's C2 Corvette.

However, back in the day radios were often aftermarket items rather than manufacturer options. I don't recall the Delco brand being available here other than on American GM imports. Perhaps your brother got one second hand?

Yes, I have a memory that it was an import.
Here's another variation in valve form - the Ford "Town and Country".
It has a split top bar, one for "Town" - motor seek with reduced sensitivity and the other for "Country" - motor seek with full sensitvity.
It even featured a foot switch to activate the tuner motor!

Image Link

There is a schematic for a 1961 GM Wonderbar car radio on eBay at the moment.

eBay item number: 380419857782

And another 1961 GM Wonderbar schematic plus set of valves on eBay:

Item number: 380443929538