BettmannGetty Images If the automobile is emblematic of mankind’s innate desire for autonomy and independence, the phone represents our powerful need to connect with one another. Combine these two seemingly diametrically opposed technologies into one and you get: the phone car the car phone. It's an idea that has been around a lot longer than you might think. How long, exactly? The photo up top dates from January 1946; it shows Frederick T. Budelman of the Fred. M. Link Corp. demonstrating a “radio dial telephone system” mounted in what appears to be a Chrysler. A separate set of systems, operated by Bell, went live in St. Louis and Chicago in June and October of that year.