I recently embarked on a noble quest to a Jack in the Box drive-through and got way more than just the fried foods I was using to numb The Horrors. This location had a flyer advertising a free antenna topper with the purchase of a large fry, and it caused a flashback to when I was a kid and every business seemed to peddle its own car antenna toppers. Over the last few decades, almost every new car has silently ditched the old-fashioned radio antennae that once sprouted from every vehicle, and nobody seems to care. I care less about the disappearance of the external radio antenna and more that its extinction has inadvertently eliminated the whimsical bobbles that folks used to proudly display on top of them.
The earliest external radio antennas on cars started popping up alongside the advent of frequency-modulated (FM) radio. Blaupunkt introduced the first in-car FM radio in 1952, and by the start of the next decade FM radios were available as optional extras in most cars on sale. FM radio waves are actually electromagnetic radiation that travels through the air; metal antennae capture those signals and send them into the radio, which sends them through your speakers as music or voice or whatever sound is being transmitted.
In the early days, long metal antennas were the norm. Some were collapsible and tucked into the A-pillar waiting for the driver’s grasp to extend it to pick up the tunes, and others were permanently extended. Eventually, carmakers began motorizing the radio antenna so owners wouldn’t be forced to do anything beyond flipping on their radio, with the antenna extending on its own. The next big radio antenna breakthrough was the invisible antenna. General Motors was actually the first company to sandwich very thin radio antennas into the glass windshield of the 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix, which did away with the need for external antennas but suffered from poor reception. Many modern cars still integrate their radio antennas into the glass somewhere on the car, whether it’s in the windshield, a rear three-quarter window, or the rear window, but there’s a new favorite antenna design rocking the automotive world: the shark fin.
There is conflicting information on the web about which automaker first used a shark fin antenna, but the earliest car I found with a shark fin antenna was on the 2002 BMW 7 Series. Regardless of its origins, the shark fin antenna has become a favorite of the modern automotive world because it allows carmakers to stylishly hide numerous different antennas in one compact housing. New cars often need to access AM/FM radio waves, GPS signals, satellite radio, cellular connections and mobile hotspots to name a few, and the shark fin can house most of the modern tech that’s required to facilitate these features.
Now you know the history of the antenna, but I want to bitch about the extinction of the old-fashioned, traditional antenna topper. I can’t believe I’m saying this at the ripe old age of 29, but back in my day, many roadside businesses offered novelty antenna toppers. They were either free advertising for the brand or just a way to make a quick buck selling a little accessory.
When I saw the image of the Jack in the Box head at the drive-through window, it teleported me back to my youth and some vivid antenna ball memories. I remember how proud my Grandpa was of the impaled Wienerschnitzel antenna topper that he had on his 1990 Ford F-150 and how hard it made him laugh when he first got it. I remember convincing my mom to get an Ed Roth–style flaming eyeball antenna topper for their 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan, and a Rat Fink one after that. The giant orange 76 gas station spheres that once adorned street corners were also turned into foam antenna balls, and of course there was Jack in the Box’s Jack head antenna ball, and various other iterations of Wienerschnitzel’s screaming wiener, too. Disney adults gave away their affiliation by adorning their car antennae with Mickey Mouse ears, and sports fans proudly displayed their allegiance to their favorite team with a branded antenna topper, too. Simpler times.
Is it really that big of a deal that most modern cars have done away with their external antennae? Not at all, but I had to share this memory with the Jalopnik audience. I hope that this blog brings back some fond memories for the rest of you geezers in your late twenties and beyond. In fact, writing this blog helped me to remember some incredible moments with my late Grandpa, and finally grieve his passing.
Seeing a photo of the Wienerschnitzel impaled wiener antenna topper that my Grandpa was so proud of helped me to access a trove of incredibly vivid memories of my Grandpa that I feared I had forgotten long ago. I’m grateful to these silly bobbles because that made me recall some powerful and fond memories of one of the most influential people in my life, and one of the people who facilitated my infatuation with the automotive world. Grandpa, I miss you and your wonderfully twisted sense of humor every single day. Thank you for believing in me and my fanciful dream of becoming an automotive journalist.
