Last English Ford with 6v electrics was the early Prefect/ Anglia. By early 50s all UK Fords were 12v courtesy of the Prince of Darkness (Lucas). That includes Mk1 Zephyr and Consul and all the 100Es (later Prefect and Anglia).

I hadn't thought of pre -55 GM cars other than Holden. That could be it.

A vibrator radio with a valve rectifier is polarity-insensitive so you can use them in BMC cars with +ve earth. Synchronous vibrators were sensitive to polarity but I can't recall a car radio that used one. Bush radios, yes.

Of course, be careful of polarity with any hybrid or transistor radio.

AWA 2 way radios we used to use had a nifty lossless reverse-polarity protection arrangement using a relay and a diode.

Ian,

I'm puzzled by the "---Prince of Darkness (Lucas). " statement. Never heard it before, still a baby in the 50's.

Did Lucas gear have some type of reputation, bad or othewrwise--?

Lucas? Oh yeah!! The best of 50s and 60s British design and manufacture with all that implies.

I first heard it when I was in the Riley club.

http://www.mossmotoring.com/prince-darkness-joseph-lucas/

Wow!!!

Compelling reading.

Many thanks,

G.

Did Lucas gear have some type of reputation, bad or othewrwise--?

Among aficionados of British motorcycles, Lucas stands for "leaves us cold and stranded".

The pommy GM models, such as the Vauxhall, were fitted with the 12 volt RM Air Chief version.

The Lucas motto regarding lighting was "get home before dark" My MKII Zephyr had Lucas 700 Bulb type headlights. As I am rural & needed to actually see past the edge of the overriders on the bumper, it was very quickly fitted with Halogen sealed beams.

Anything Lucas was marginal, at least the rest of the lights, were Butlers. I did measure the current draw of the system at full load & there is about 4 Amps left. I have been tempted to put a C45 or Tractor replacement in it. Several bits in it are tractor parts & gettable.

I got on to the guys in Europe about the Erres

Thanks GTC. They sent me>

May be this can be of any help, please inform me if it is not working ! (KY 556 is normal but KY 557 is with short wave)
(Dutch service instruction for both)
http://www.vanderheem.com/product_images/schemaas/schema%20KY%20557%20sd%20a.pdf
(drawing electric for both)
http://www.vanderheem.com/product_images/schemaas/schema%20KY%20557%20sd%20b.pdf
(introduction KY 556 in factory weekly magazine Dutch in October 1955 )
http://www.vanderheem.com/archief/blad%20personeel%201962%201966/vdhtje%201955%20439%20okt.pdf

Have a look and see what you think. I hope these will be a good start for that project.

Circuit & lingo are ok to me: I could work with it. I would however, before powering it (after assessment & repairs) make sure the mains tap is on 250V.

Ok thats good.

I note your point about the power switch Marc. The radio has no valves, (well there are two), but I will aks them for the full set. But it wont be till later in the winter before we get started on it.

Interesting

The guys from Erress (dutch Europe) have asked me for details of the radio.

They are curious about how it got here to Oz, and any manufacture details. It is in bad shape, and I dont think from memory there are any manufacturer details, but I'm going to take some photos, and see if I can find some factory info on/in it.

Then we will know if its an AM/FM or a SW. I'm hoping for an SW, that's why I grabbed it.

They are curious about how it got here to Oz

Presumably by boat or plane

It's not a brand I've come across before, so I guess it's rare in Oz. Its styling is similar to European radios of that era, especially Philips.