Thursday, January 02, 2020

Filet Mignon was used as a catchy phrase way to get the Phillips Mignon record player for cars marketed (Thanks Rick!)


George Harrison changing records in his Jaguar

In the states the Highway Hi-Fi system was introduced in 1956 but discontinued in 1959 of struggling to get any traction with car buyers, as only CBS made records in the 16 rpm format, and they didn't bother putting rock and roll on these records, they instead went with classical and Disney music... no doubt some stuffy ultra religious and conservative corporate great aunt Karen was in charge of deciding what was "Appropriate" for records to play in cars.

 But Chrysler wasn’t ready to give up on being the only automaker that offered in-car personalized music selection. In 1960 and ’61, Chrysler replaced the Highway Hi-Fi system with an RCA “Auto Victrola” turntable that played a stack of up to 14 conventional 45-rpm singles.



The Mignon was surprisingly long-lived, produced from 1958 through 1970, and was more compact and sexier than its American counterparts. And it didn’t need specially-made records; 45 rpm records were simply slid into a slot in the front, a futuristic development 40 years ahead of in-dash CD players. However, the unit held only one record at a time.



However there was a dealer demo Highway Hi Fi record for certain model Chryslers that gave buyers a guided tour of the car’s features while they drove.

This idea would be resurrected in the 1980s when every car had a cassette player and factory instructional tapes were sometimes included to augment the printed owner’s manual.

https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2017/12/18/obsolete-car-audio-part-2
https://www.bukowskis.com/en/auctions/E305/lots/1086575-a-mignon-record-player-from-philips-designed-1957


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