1957/1958 Zenith Royal 500D, chassis 8AT40Z2
Coat pocket radio, nylon cabinet
5 3/4 x 3 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches / 146 x 89 x 38 mm
Eight transistors
Superheterodyne circuit, vernier tuning
Four 1.5-volt AA cells
Manufactured by Zenith Radio Corp.; Chicago, Illinois
A huge cosmetic improvement to the cabinet face just by modifying the speaker grille and dial area made this the best looking version of the Zenith 500 series in my opinion, including the 500H. An additional RF amplifier transistor improved reception. All three units shown here have the same 8AT40Z2 chassis.
Gary's Radios' superb page on the Zenith Royal 500 series details among many other things that there were several versions of the 500D: the 1957 version (the black 500D shown below) had a concave speaker grille, a large Zenith badge between the dials, and no "500D" lettering beneath the badge. The 1958 version (the ivory and burgundy 500Ds shown below) had a convex grille, a smaller Zenith badge between the dials, and the black script "500D" lettering beneath the badge.
OK, I can't help saying here that the ivory 500D holds a special place in my heart — it was the first transistor radio that I bought as a radio collector: I found it at a yard sale a few miles from my house in June, 1988 for $3.50 — I actually walked away from it ($3.50 for a transistor radio? Outrageous!) and then I came back several hours later, it was still lying there on its table, and I bought it.
It played well, and long after I had collected many other transistor radios, this 500D continued to be the radio I actually used, mostly to listen to Red Sox day games in my back yard. After I moved to Europe in 2004, I used it for MW DXing and logged stations from all over Europe and even North Africa. I'm sure I could have done even better with my 500H, but this 500D was "my radio"....
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