Salvage Hunters Classic Cars
1972 Continental Edison R43 upgrade
We were thrilled to meet the Salvage Hunters Classic Cars team, and had huge fun helping them out with their 1972 Citroen DS Continental Edison R43 radio.
Watch the episode when it’s aired on QUEST 6th Jan 2021 at 9 pm and also available on Discovery + from Wednesday 23 Dec 2020.
The Citroen DS is an iconic motor and when Salvage Hunters Drew and Paul find a 1972 example that looks like a complete wreck, they’re convinced there’s a decent car underneath. So they decide to sort it out.
The Citroen DS factory fitted radio option in 1970 through ’72 was a Continental Edison. The top of the range model at the time, was the R43 with FM, Medium and Long wave bands and a very unusual horizontal volume control. It was installed in a custom opening in the dash of the DS and there’s no other radio that really fits.
The push buttons on the radio marked PO GO and MF, refer to Medium Wave, Long Wave and FM bands. Thankfully, this is marked on the radio dial to help out those of us that don’t speak French.
The Salvage Hunters DS still had its R43 fitted. The good news was that the original radio hadn’t been removed and lost years ago. The bad news, of course, was that it wasn’t working.
Because it was the original radio, it was important that it was retained as part of the build. It needed some attention. Paul wanted it to work, but needed it to deliver more than it did back in 1972.
So he got in touch with us here at Agenta Audio and asked if we could help with an upgrade and some extra features.
To provide the performance Paul was hoping for, we used the Aurora FMR-2.7 AM/FM 4 x 45W RMS stereo radio unit. Bluetooth connectivity for fully legal hands free telephony, voice control and audio streaming was provided by the Aurora BT-2.6 bluetooth upgrade unit.
The Continental Edison R43 radio is physically very small, and fitting upgraded electronics inside it is a challenge, particularly when we needed to retain all the original controls including the internal push button/tuning mechanism which occupies most of the space.
The Bluetooth board was installed next to the radio upgrade and the three sockets were brought out at the side of the radio case. These allow for the connection of an external Microphone, wired AUX input and an optional push button control if required by the user.
Because the radio has a built-in Microphone, wireless connectivity through bluetooth and control of all telephony functions through the tuning control, these inputs aren’t really needed under normal circumstances, but they’re there if required. The external microphone is often connected and used as it offers much better quality than the tiny 5mm internal mic.
The finished radio looks and operates just like it did back in 1972, with all the controls working as they should. However, the performance, features and reliability are everything you would expect of a car radio in 2020.
It’s the perfect blend of form and functionality, to entertain and delight the next owner of the restored Salvage Hunters Citroen DS Super 5 for many years to come.
The Salvage Hunters Classic Cars team are great fun and it was a pleasure to host them at are workshop here in Ilkley. We’re delighted to have been able to help Paul with this project and to play a small part in getting the DS back into top form again.
Paul says that nothing finishes a car off like having the right radio for the year and we couldn’t agree more! If you want to find the right radio for your car or have your own radio restored and upgraded, take a look at our retail website at agentaaudio.com
