I am a new member, just joined.
I run the Bell System Car Telephone History web page at http://www.wb6nvh.com/Carphone.htm
My collection focuses on car telephones prior to 1993 and before the AMPS cellular equipment began to be offered to the public.
This older equipment was always hard to find, because at first it was owned by the telephone companies and leased to the end user. When upgraded or turned in, the older equipment was destroyed in large scrap metal yards in several locations in the United States which contracted with Western Electric. By the 1980's, after divestiture, privately owned phones were common and eventually were all you could get. These days one only seems to find anything either on eBay or at a flea market.
I was surprised to find so many other people interested in vintage mobile phones - - I thought I was almost alone in this interest! There are so many cellular type phones it could take a lifetime to try to collect them all!
Geoff
Monterey California USA