Red GPO 332L

[FABphones]

In my early days of collecting I picked up a red ITI (Indian Telephone Industries) phone at a jumble sale for 50p. After a few months in the fledgling collection I sold it on to a dealer in Covent Garden (a well known Antiques market in London). The intention was to replace it with a nice red GPO model. Well, over two decades later , here is it's successor.

This one is in remarkably good condition, not a chip out of it. Dated 1956, with a 1956 Directory Card in the Directory drawer.

Handset cord faded, but original.

Looks a little orange in the photos but the red is true and shiny. Will give it a polish up, find an original dialcard and add more photos in due course....

[Doug Rose]

Beautiful.....Doug

[tubaman]

Very nice indeed. Was that an eBay find?

[HarrySmith]

Very nice! Can't wait to see it after you apply your magic touch. Is this a rare phone or just a rare color?

[LarryInMichigan]

It looks very nice.  I would be happy to give you 50p for it

Larry

[.....]

Nice!

[Scott]

Very cool.

Scott K.

[19and41]

Funny how the camera "sees" it.  It looks coral in the picture.  Nice find!

[Pourme]

~

I like red....

Ya know I love shiny!

I agree, can't wait to see it after you are done!

[Key2871]

 That is sharp looking, congrats on a nice find.

[FABphones]

Thanks all. 

The phone has received a quick polish using Novus.

It needs a replacement handset cord, and I have none in red, so will need to order one in. Until it arrives I have decided not to open this phone up any more than necessary so further work will have to wait. I will be replacing the dial for a more correct alpha/numerical dial at that point too. I have a few here and it is an easy swap but am being a bit precious with this phone. Not particularly rare but these are selling for silly money at the moment and it has taken a long time for a red GPO 332 to arrive in the collection.

The dialcard it came with is original but faded. At some point in it's past this phone has sat in the sun. Dated 1956, refurbed by the GPO at Cwmcarn, Wales in 1958.

[countryman]

That phone is absolutely amazing!
Especially if it sat in the sun, red colors are always the first that fade out. But this shell is just perfect!
Where would yo be able to order a suitable braided red cloth cord? Have you thought about dyeing the existing one  with fabric dye?
Do you think the dial was swapped in the refurbishing process, or later by a collector?

Congrats to the long awaited find!

[19and41]

Beautiful!

[.....]

I have one in my collection as well, it's a 1956 Siemens 332F that came from New Zealand.