One of the first, the AIWA P-174

With a look that will milk your salivary glands, bold, yet complex, the impressive AIWA P-174 from the late 60's will wet your appetite for these early legacy boxes. 60's Japanese Electronics were mostly the low cost throw away items that could never live up to their US Counterparts. In hindsight they are some of the most elegant, yet minimal, designs to come out of the 60's. I don't know how the Japanese did it but just the way they fonted their company names back then was cool, they didn't need a logo because the name alone was impressive.

The AIWA P-174 was part of the portable turntable/radio wave, a fully portable music unit and a prelude to modern boomboxes. While this is mostly plastic, it's still substantial and heavy, the only real disappointment is the stamped platter. Barely larger than a 45 record, it can play both 45's and 33's.

Mine's a little crusty but with some careful cleaning it should shine like new. There's a nasty hum when playing that's either interference from a light or more likely a dried out cap. When I get this one going I'm going to have to break out my Sing Along With Mitch Album.

 

Thanks Mystic, when I was a young boy we had a real toy store about 3/4 of a mile away. They had a huge Corgi Display and we drooled over it every time we went there. The vehicles were beautiful but even back then they were very expensive and mostly unobtanium for us. The good news is the catalogs were free and we'd read them from cover to cover. I got the car at an antique shop in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin, the guy had some of the coolest stuff I've seen at an antique store, it was kind of like the old days.