Hello All.
I registered to this forum to ask the experts if they can verify/identify an AM radio for me.
My friend buys stuff from auction houses, and recently purchased a large box of miscellaneous items. In it was the radio mentioned in the title.
I did hook a 12V source and a speaker up to the radio (no antenna), and it does send a static signal to the speaker.
Using Google and the "B.M.C.D. Custom" on the face of the radio, it came up as being for a 1964 Jaguar MK2.

Can anyone verify this for me?

Truth be told, I joined this forum mainly to get info about this radio, and if there may be any interest in it from someone doing a restoration.
Based on my user name, it goes without saying that i'm a Chevy guy, and am partial to classic musclecars. I DO love me a beautiful E-Type however. SEXY!!!

 

These seem to have been commonly fitted to Jags, Rovers, MG's etc in the US. Radiomobile & Motorola was more common in the UK & generally OE fit. (At one time produced on the same production line.) Radiomobile at one time had a 95% market share for car radios in the UK.


Here fitted to MG.

 

B.M.C.D. radios were fitted to Jaguars by the Jaguar Distributor in the USA, particularly in California. They are positive ground, AM transistor radios. There was no FM in those days.
B.M.C.D. stands for British Motor Corporation Distributing.

I purchased my 1965 S type in San Francisco, it had one of those. You can see it in my website:

www.classicstypeparts.webstarts.com

 

Good old British Motor Car Distributors. My family bought a MK-VII, a MK-IX and two Hillmans from them back in the 1950s. Kjell Qvalle was one of Sir William Lyon's favorite distributors in the U.S. from the early days...

 

OK ~ so these were a house brand for British Motor Corporation Distributing. Any idea who actually made them? Many car radios of that era were switchable positive or negative earth.

 

I have a Radiomobile of the same period that has switchable Ground, but the BMCD does not as far as I know.
I have no idea who made the BMCD Custom radios.

The Seatbelts in my car have BMC buckles.

 

The Options list in those days:

 

Poking around on the internet seems to suggest that the "house brand" BMCD radio was produced by Tenna Corporation of Cleveland, Ohio. Old ebay listing pics appear to suggest this.

Most European cars of that era were imported without radios installed, as few US buyers would pay a premium for SW/MW bands and FM multiplex reception was in its infancy in the early 1960s.

I am pretty sure the OP is wondering what the radio is worth... My best guess, based upon old eBay offerings is $20-50, if the ratio actually works; this is bolstered by the fact that somewhat superior radios, e.g. old Blaupunkts, Grundigs, etc., go for about $100 here in the States.