Projects 1949 Ford radio delete or ?

I have what looks like a radio delete late for the 1949-50 ford cars, but this one has a hole in it for an amp gauge its looks like or some other gauge. The hole look to have been factory made, the plate itself is metal. I have found nothing like this out there on the net. Can someone shed some light on it.

 

I donno nothin about it but its cool as hell

 

Maybe a service vehicle option. All of my radio delete vehicles were non-race car oriented stuff. I've never had one as old as this ... but for me, it seemed that anyone working for "the man" back then, and driving their vehicles....a lot of times, got no tunes to rock to. (Get your *** to work ! ?) Good luck. Looks cool.

 

Maybe a police car?? - go to shoeboxford.com - those guys know everything there is to know about shoeboxs.

 

Cigarette lighter. I'll bet if you look around the web a little bit you can find a cigarette lighter that fits that hole.

 

I will check out shoebox, anyone else have any thoughts

 

The lighter was in the dash to the right of the choke.

 

That's really strange. It's definitely the radio delete plate, but the hole is identical to the shape of the clock hole, complete with the keyway at the bottom. Here's my '50 dash.



With the brace and insulators in the back it had to be some sort of gauge mount. I bet it was a commercial or police option for a specific gauge. Probably super rare... not valuable, but rare!

 

By the way, the angle of the photo I posted naked the clock look much bigger than the radio delete plate. It's not.

 

Where's @shoeboxdoc today? Check out shoebox-central.com (no www) and you'll get a definitive answer there.