# Radio Presets On Old Cars **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 29, 2007, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-presets-on-old-cars/424472 "2007-10-29T17:38:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-presets-on-old-cars/424472/1 "2007-10-29T17:38:35Z")
Hi guys. I was sitting watching The Fog (the 1980 version) the other night, and Adrienne Barbeau was on her way to the radio station (the lighthouse) in an old car. I don’t know the kind it was but it was a convertible and looked somewhat utilitarian if that matters at all. It showed a picture of her radio in her car and the preset buttons had letters on them. I BELIEVE they were LMKUU. Now it seems to me that in the olden days (back when even I was a kid) my dad’s car had letters on the radio preset buttons too. Can anyone tell me what those letters mean (or if I have perhaps hallucinated this whole thing.) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-presets-on-old-cars/424472/2 "2007-10-29T17:44:46Z")
From what I remember as a kid in the 1970s, in European cars, the preset buttons were marked for various bands. L - longwave (very low frequency broadcast band not used in North America) M - mediumwave (AM in North America) U - either shortwave or FM; I can’t remember which. They also doubled as band selection buttons. Instead of a LW/MW/FM or AM/FM switch, the preset tuned the radio to a specific station in a specific band. ---
**Author:** ![Roog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a87d85/32.png) [@Roog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roog)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-presets-on-old-cars/424472/3 "2007-10-29T17:46:42Z")
[QUOTE=Missy2U] Hi guys. I was sitting watching The Fog (the 1980 version) the other night, and Adrienne Barbeau was on her way to the radio station (the lighthouse) in an old car. I don’t know the kind it was but it was a convertible and looked somewhat utilitarian if that matters at all. It showed a picture of her radio in her car and the preset buttons had letters on them. I BELIEVE they were LMKUU. Now it seems to me that in the olden days (back when even I was a kid) my dad’s car had letters on the radio preset buttons too. Can anyone tell me what those letters mean (or if I have perhaps hallucinated this whole thing.) 😉 [/QUOTE] Was it a German radio? Langwelle Mediumwelle Kurzwelle 2xUltrakurzwelle ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-presets-on-old-cars/424472/4 "2007-10-29T18:46:46Z")
[QUOTE=Roog] Was it a German radio? Langwelle Mediumwelle Kurzwelle 2xUltrakurzwelle [/QUOTE] Must have been - it looked foreign anyway. Thanks so much!! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-presets-on-old-cars/424472/5 "2016-10-08T17:47:50Z")
> [@Missy2U](#): > > Hi guys. I was sitting watching The Fog (the 1980 version)… We’re watching _The Fog_ now, and the same question occurred to me. Googling ‘lmkuu’ ‘radio’, this thread was the top hit. 🙂 And now I know. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-presets-on-old-cars/424472/6 "2016-10-08T17:50:52Z")
Car might have been a Borgward. They were almost common here in the late 1960s and it would have been an easy choice for a 1980 movie’s “old, strange car.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-presets-on-old-cars/424472/7 "2016-10-08T17:54:02Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Car might have been a Borgward. They were almost common here in the late 1960s and it would have been an easy choice for a 1980 movie’s “old, strange car.” 1973 VW Thing. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-presets-on-old-cars/424472/8 "2016-10-08T17:56:14Z")
I once had a '62 VW with a standard Blaupunkt radio, that had a switch from MW to LW. Medium wave is the USA standard broadcast, and Long Wave is used in a few European stations