Pagoda SL Group
W113 Pagoda SL Group => General Discussion => Topic started by: vmg on September 20, 2025, 16:16:37
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Hi Guys:
I got a 1967 250SL California coupe, European version, standard shift, two tone... and I am very happy with it. A very original car, not restored but mantained. I had some details done, like installing new tires and painting wheels and hubcaps in the process, plus changing the firewall pad, asides from whatever minor corrections or work it needed.
One of the few incorrect things it had was the radio.... somebody fitted a slightly later Becker Europa unit with the larger body and used a saw and file to fit it. Being the car an earlier 250SL, it uses the slim radio and old type of knobs, as in a 230SL. I already got the new dashboard panel and painted it and I am about to fit the radio. Here is the question:
I got a Becker Grand Prix correct for 66-67 and had already fitted a bluetooth to it. However just for the looks and I don’t necesarily want it to work, I would love to fit a Becker Reims 10 (or 540?) shortwave adapter which I also have and which appears as correct for 1967 also, according to: https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/becker_reims_10.html
The thing is, I don’t want to do anything incorrect, so first I ask: Could this Reims adapter have been ordered from the factory in the era, or perhaps for the dealer?
If so, how and where would it be installed? I haven’t actually seen pictures of any W113 with one.
And I have an even tougher question: In case I fit an A/C underdash unit (I have access to an original unit, Kuhlmeister NOS from 1967), could both options live together? Where would the shortwave adapter be installed in these case?
Thanks for any help,
Victor
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I'm fairly certain that a Becker Grand Prix (or perhaps some other Beckers) came with a SW button. Wouldn't it be easier to just search and get THAT radio?
Most cars to my knowledge in North America never had SW radios in them. AM, FM.
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I believe the K button on the radio shown is short wave. See the dial? K on left side, SW on right side. So, I assume it's just selecting the input to the radio (amplifier), not actually tuning in SW frequencies. That's what the device shown below the radio would do.
Finally, he does say, "However just for the looks and I don’t necesarily want it to work, I would love to fit a Becker Reims 10 (or 540?) shortwave adapter which I also have and which appears as correct for 1967."
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This is an interesting question best posed to a radio expert in Europe or maybe Ed Ebel at Becker Autosound in NJ.
SW not an American thing.
From what I can tell the radio pictured already receives SW band. That adapter brings in the SW band to radios that cannot receive it.
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My car is a German market SL with a Gran Prix Radio (as delivered per the data card) and this is what it looks like
JB