First car to have an integrated cell phone ???

Mad1stGen

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I'm sure someone here knows this (Sandy ???)
What was the first US car to have the itegrated cell phone option ?
I hope it was the mark, but who knows ???
 
RE: First car to have an integrated cell phone ???

ARE WE INCLUDING FOREIGN CARS?
 
RE: First car to have an integrated cell phone ???

Cell phone technology in vehicles was bborn in 1946 and was used mostly Police/Military/Fire/Rescue angencies.

As far a production car with the first phone? I thought it was Benz or Saab?
 
RE: First car to have an integrated cell phone ???

I take it that you mean built in to the car, rather than "added on" and done at the factory when the car was manufactured????

It that case it was a 3-way tie:

1990 was the year, and the cars were the Dodge Dynasty, the Chrysler New Yorker & the Imperial. It was called the "Visor Phone" and was built into the back-side of the sun visor. It cost $311.00 MSRLP. You flipped down the visor to use it. It was (of course) analog and had self contained speakers & voicepick-up, and many other functions. We sold (I think) about 5 Dynastys' with it over the year. People were not ready for it.....yet!

PS/ Again, another case of (usually) BMW or mer-SAAY-dees getting credit for an Imperial "first" :)
 
RE: First car to have an integrated cell phone ???

Great info. Any quotable sources for that ? (Unless you want me to quote you ...LOL) I need this for my research. Also, do you have any info on the foreign automakers ?
 
RE: First car to have an integrated cell phone ???

This is what he asked:-

What was the first US car to have the itegrated cell phone option ?

Also, do you have any info on the foreign automakers ?

No, in Sandy's book, they don't count. :) I have a 3 fold - folder from Chrysler showing the Imperial version, but no scanner.
 
RE: First car to have an integrated cell phone ???

you said 3 way tie -- what were the other 2?
 
RE: First car to have an integrated cell phone ???

Ah, aren't Dodge and Chrysler Mercedes, Sandy? ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-)
 
RE: First car to have an integrated cell phone ???

1. The Imperial
2. Chrysler New Yorker Brougham & New Yorker
3. Dodge Dynasty

Equals 3.

Here: I went to my library and dug it out for you. This is from the 1990 Imperial Brochure:-

"Imperial brings Cell Phone technology to aid in your safety. VisorPhone (c) delivers convenient communication that is engineered into the vehicle to become a part of the total package of Imperial safety, and you'll be able to take and receive telephone calls just as you would in your home, but hands-free! It's right at your fingertips should you ever need it in an emergency situation. Your local Imperial Dealer has an Imperial equipped with Visorphone (c) right now and will bring it to your home or office for your inspection".

VisorPhone is a registered trademark of Cartell, Inc. and is manufactured exclusively for Chrysler Corporation by OKI Telecom Manufacturers and the warrantor of VisorPhone. VisorPhone will initially be available on the Imperial, and later this model year on other full-sized Chrysler Corporation models.

jd, yes. Mercedes owns the Chrysler of today. However "MY" Chrysler Corporation ended with one car at a time, as styles introduced BY Chrysler, and initially built & marketed BY Chrysler were discontinued. 1999 models were the last official CHRYSLER CORPORATION MODELS, but styles & designs lingered up until the 2001 Cherokee (which I own). a.k.a. J33P3RS.
No, I would not buy one, today. BTW, as a side note, the Cherokee (1984-2001) was designed by Brooks Stevens who designed many, many cars among which were the Studebaker Starlight (A milestone car, today - so honored by the milestone car society), many Packards and did some work with Raymond Lowey on the Avanti. He also designed & marketed the Excalibur Automobiles, as well as the Studebaker WagonAIRE with the sliding roof to carry tall items, that GMC Envoy has now copied identicly and is touting it as "ALL NEW" ~
 
RE: First car to have an integrated cell phone ???

And one more to this list of cell phone.

The late and dearly departed Olds Toronado line (1990-1992)and maybe even a little earlier, included a neat hands free cell phone option.
I owned a 1990 model that included a hands free option that had a Motorola handset unit that stowed inside the console and the microphone was hidden up front in the middle of the headliner within the sunroof control. Incoming calls came from the stereo speakers. A system that is very "Mark" like.

Although it did not have voice recognition, the neatest part of all was that it was integrated within the VIC or Visual Information Center. This was a Sony TV screen that allowed you to control a number of functions in the car, and that allowed you to actually program names and numbers, and then touch them on the screen and the phone would dial. You could even program a security code that when you started up the car, it would ask you for a code to type in. If you didn't type the code within 30 seconds, the car would dial your home number to let you know it might be stolen!! If you ever see a Toronado around, you might want to check it out really cool!

Finally, I guess I am one of the lucky ones here in NC I can still utilize my 98's phone. At the time I purchased it in 02, Alltel would still set up analog phones. I actually have nationwide coverage, no roaming or LD, so it is great to have when traveling.
 
RE: First car to have an integrated cell phone ???

WOW, I have been searching for years to find anybdy who remembered that Toronado feature. My Late Uncle had one, with "VIC" ~ I thought it was the coolest thing on earth. Memory getting fuzzy, but couldn't you set other features with that screen, too? Heat/ Air Cond/Stereo/maybe Pwr. Seats? I remember it well. His Toro was really special, some sort of special model, too. I think it was a 1992. I have the brochure on it. Uncle only drove Olds! Had like 20 of them over the years. He died in 1993. Olds dies next month....

Oh, and welcome to our little corner of the world! We've been awaiting you !! ;) BTW, I used to have a 98 MK 8 LSC C.E. ## 1277. Sold it last year in March 21st (2003) & bought a Town Car Limited Edition. My entire family drove Imperials, except for my Uncle & his Toros & 98s. When the Imperial ended (1983) we switched to Lincolns). He stayed with Toros
 
RE: First car to have an integrated cell phone ???

Thanks for the welcome Sandy. Just been lurking around checking things out.

The Toro did indeed control all of the features that you mentioned. It is actually still in the family, and it is red :) My dad had pestered me for years for it, so I finally gave in, and so it stayed in the family. Only has 60k on it, and still looks great.

Actually because of the toys was the reason I bought the Mark. She has only 41k on her, and with that hands free phone, it works great!
 
RE: First car to have an integrated cell phone ???

I would say the first foreign would be the 1990 Lexus LS400, available in 1989.

Sandy is wrong on the first domestic. But I think someone beat me to it. The 1989 Oldsmobile Toranado Trofeo had a hands free phone.
 
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