Not a week goes by without an email asking for knowledge of the ’67 Sapphire V AM radio, the one year only black saftey knobs, etc. I was in the process of documenting this information and ran across Rich Langenwalter’s research. It seems he’s already done most of the work.

“This article documents Sapphire I thru VI radios manufactured between 1960 and 1967.  I’ve gathered Sapphire information over the past ten years collecting and repairing VW radios.  Much of this history was learned from Sam’s Photofact Auto Radio Series publications.  Sam’s AR has a multiple page description including electronic schematic, part numbers, alignment instructions and a B/W radio picture.  The series is a valuable source for radio model numbers, manufacturing dates, original knobs, face plates and installation parts for these radios.”

’67 Model Year; Sapphire V AM 12 volt
The Sapphire V was produced by Bendix and Motorola in the ’67 model year. The radios are 12V to accommodate the model year’s voltage change to 12V. This one year only radio has similar accessories as ’66. Pictures of the early Sapphire V radios show the ’66 chrome knob. Pictures of later radios show the ‘67 black rubber knobs…advertised as a safety feature to lessen injury when hitting the dash.”

Thanks Rich for this fantastic resource.