When Cars Had Turntables: Photos of the Era When Vinyl Hit the Road, 1950s-1960s

Imagine cruising down the highway with a turntable spinning your favorite tunes right in the car.

While it sounds like a scene from a sci-fi movie or an eccentric retro fantasy, in-car record players were a very real innovation during the mid-20th century.

Inspired by the success of car radios, automakers in the 1950s sought to bring another home entertainment staple into the automobile: the record player.

Though short-lived, these in-car phonographs marked the automotive industry’s first attempt to let drivers and passengers curate their own music playlists on the go—a groundbreaking idea in an era before cassette tapes, CDs, or digital streaming.

Vinyl Record Players on Cars Vintage Photos

The first in-car record player, the “Highway Hi-Fi,” was nothing short of revolutionary.

Developed by Dr. Peter Goldmark, head of CBS Laboratories and the inventor of the 33 1/3 RPM “Long-Playing” (LP) record, the Highway Hi-Fi was initially offered as a factory-installed option in Chrysler vehicles.

It was designed to solve a fundamental challenge: how to adapt records, with their fragile grooves and large sizes, to the unpredictable environment of a moving car.
At the time, the recording industry was locked in a format war between two competing standards: the 33 1/3 RPM LP, championed by CBS for its ability to hold more than 20 minutes of music per side, and the 45 RPM single, backed by RCA for its compact size but limited playtime.

The 45s were small enough to fit in a car’s glove compartment but required frequent flipping, while the 12-inch LPs offered longer playtime but were cumbersome to accommodate.

Dr. Goldmark and his team were undeterred by these challenges. Drawing on their expertise in microgroove technology, they engineered a new solution—a groundbreaking “ultra-microgroove” format that allowed for even more compact discs while maintaining extended playtime.

Lawrence Welk shows off a Highway Hi-Fi system in his 1956 Chrysler convertible.

To solve the issue of size and playtime, they slowed the turntable’s speed to 16 2/3 RPM—half the speed of a standard LP—allowing 7-inch records to hold as much music as a full-sized 12-inch LP.

The system underwent rigorous testing in the lab, where it achieved excellent sound fidelity, and was later tested in Goldmark’s personal Chrysler.

By designing a sprung enclosure around the turntable and increasing the downward pressure on the stylus, the system was tuned to minimize skipping, even on rough roads.

Manchester City player Mike Summerbee demonstrating the built- in record player of his new Volvo P1800, 1976.

While it couldn’t fit in the glove compartment, it was mounted elegantly beneath the dashboard.

With the press of a button, the front cover flipped down, and the record player slid forward, playing music through the car’s existing radio amplifier and speakers. Goldmark even installed the system in a CBS executive’s Ford Thunderbird, which performed just as impressively.

Despite the system’s promising results, CBS executives were hesitant to support the project.

They doubted its market potential and worried it might divert listeners away from radio broadcasts—and their advertisers. As a result, CBS declined to move forward.

Unwilling to give up, Goldmark demonstrated the system directly to Chrysler executives, driving his modified Chrysler to their Detroit torture track.

The record player performed flawlessly, impressing the automaker. Chrysler adopted the system and marketed it as the “Highway Hi-Fi” for its 1956 models.

Priced at $200—a steep cost at the time, equivalent to over $2,200 today—the Highway Hi-Fi was a unique and luxurious feature.

Muhammad Ali is shown jockeying singles into the Philips record player in his 1959 Cadillac Eldorado.

However, the rollout faced significant challenges. While Goldmark had fine-tuned the system in his own car to minimize skipping, Chrysler’s mass production failed to replicate this level of precision.

The systems were installed in a variety of vehicles, including lower-end Dodge and Plymouth models with stiffer suspensions.

These less forgiving setups led to frequent skipping, frustrating customers and resulting in a surge of warranty claims.

What began as an innovative leap forward ultimately faltered under inconsistent execution and poor adaptation across different vehicle models.

Muhammad Ali in his 1959 Cadillac Eldorado.

By 1959, the Highway Hi-Fi system was discontinued, but Chrysler wasn’t ready to abandon its pursuit of in-car personalized music.

In 1960 and 1961, the company introduced the RCA “Auto Victrola,” a turntable capable of playing a stack of up to 14 standard 45-rpm singles. While it still struggled with skipping on rough roads, the system undoubtedly was an improvement.

Across the Atlantic, the Philips Mignon, sometimes branded as “Auto Mignon” or sold in the U.S. under the Norelco name, became the preferred automotive record player.

The system gained fame when each member of The Beatles reportedly installed one in their cars, with George Harrison famously photographed using the Mignon in his Jaguar E-Type.

The Mignon stood out for its sleek, compact design and practicality. Unlike its American counterparts, it didn’t require specially designed records.

Instead, standard 45-rpm singles could be inserted directly into a slot on the front, a feature remarkably ahead of its time—foreshadowing the functionality of in-dash CD players decades later.

However, the system’s one-record capacity meant frequent interruptions, requiring users to swap singles regularly for continuous music during longer drives.

Then came taped music, a game-changing innovation that revolutionized in-car entertainment and ended the road for automotive record players.

The incredible Highway Hi-Fi designed by Dr. Peter Goldmark used 7-inch “ultra microgroove” records that packed 45 minutes of music into a record the size of a 45 rpm single.