In a Nutshell
This Last Predicta, Culmination of the famous Series, lasting only two years is as good as it ever can get: with strong RCA-upgraded picture tube, serviced aligned and working, in mint cosmetic condition

Introduction:
Philco's iconic 1958 vintage TV "Predicta" remains one of the most remarkable design achievements of the last century. At least two companies (Telstar and CB Electronics) decided to rebuilt Predictas. Herbert Gosweiler, manager of Philco's product design group from 1954-1960 and marketing vice-president Henry Bowes pushed the concept of this futuristic TV design by Severin L. Jonassen, Richard J. Whipple and German emigrant Catherine Speyer Winkler. It was introduced to the public on the Philco sponsored Miss America TV show in September 1958 by Miss America 1959 Mary Ann Mobley. The public's reaction was enthusiastic, inspirations ranging from "looks like a women's wasp waist" to "looks like the mushroom cloud of a (then abundant) Bikini atomic bomb". Collectors like the Predictas for their "space age" look, restorers hate them for their finicky electronic tempers, that plagued especially the 21" series from their very beginnings and, amplified by the advent of color TV not only led to a very short lifespan (1958-60) of the Predicta, but even caused the bankruptcy of Philco shortly after. Philco's earnings had dropped from $335 million in 1950 to $2.3 million in 1960. The assets, and the highly trained technical staff were taken over by the Ford Motor Company on December 11, 1961.
The 1960 last generation console model "Continental" combines the larger 21" screen used in 1958 for the "Holiday" with the less problematic transformer equipped chassis of the 1959 17" series "Princess", "Siesta", and "Debutante". Still both Philco 21" picture tubes SF-21 and 21EAP4 were very unreliable and often had to be exchanged under warranty. The 21FDP4 (6.3V, 600 mA heater) was developed as the correct replacement tube. My set had the tube exchanged in March 1967 (pict.28). The Continental is also the culmination of Predicta styling, the designer(s) being unknown (see footnote). The two bynames Danish Modern and Continental, and the perspective of the set compel our attention to contemporary Scandinavian commodity design by Danish Modern pioneers like Arne Jacobsen or Grete Jalk on one hand and to the Space War, started by the launch of Sputnik I in 1957, on the other hand (pict.43). For sale here is a 1960 Predicta H4730 Danish Modern- Continental in mahogany, that I thoroughly serviced and that is in mint cosmetic and working condition. It was made in Toronto Canada and its later 10L43 chassis lacks the Tone Control used in chassis 10L41 and 10L42.

Additional information:
ref.1: http://www.earlytelevision.org/images/Philco_H3410-Predicta-Princess-Sams-466-1.pdf
ref.2: http://www.greatestcollectibles.com/philco-predicta-television-set-1960-danish-modern-continental/
ref.3: http://www.50spredicta.com/pdfs/65%20Brochure_hi%20rez.pdf
ref.4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTdf8YTymJg&feature=youtu.be
ref.5: http://www.radiolaguy.com/info/tv.htm

About my Continental:
I had bought the TV from its original owner in Vancouver Kerrisdale, in working condition. All I did to it, is servicing it, repairing the "fusistor", replacing no components except optimizing all tubes with the help of my stock, cleaning the chassis from modest grime and dust, align the set with a scope and signal generator, spray all contacts with contact cleaner, and do a few cosmetic touches to the cabinet. Otherwise the unit is all original and beautifully working, mainly due to the fact, that the TV was never stored away, that the original flyback transformer is in excellent shape, and that the Philco picture tube has been replaced already in 1967 by a much better RCA 21FDP4 tube, which is so strong, that the TV can even be looked at in plain sunlight (pict.1). All controls work as they are supposed to. The set was tested with a VCR connected to the antenna through a 300 Ohm adapter (included in sale). Watch a youtube video (click on pict.46 or go to ref.4) with the TV playing a section of "Casablanca" with Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains and Dooley Wilson from 1942. The picture has good brightness and contrast and only small distortions, the sound is perfect. As all vintage TV's also this Predicta is not supposed to be used 24/7 like a modern TV. Please heed Sonny Clutter's advice (ref.5) how to operate a vintage TV. Pricing of this TV is difficult because of its uniqueness. EBay Item 251191412856 recently sold for a BO to $3750, another one untested for $2800 (ref.2, pickup only). Please e-mail me (Kris) for any questions, ich spreche Deutsch, je parle Français.

Footnote 1:
The designers of the Predicta series are known as: Catherine Winkler (Pedestal) [1906-1989] (see pict.41), Severin L. Jonassen (Tandem) [born 1913], and Richard J. Whipple (all models) [1916-1964]. When searching for Winkler, one finds her Philco assignee patents signed with Catherine S. Winkler. There is another link to a page with many futuristic 1950's TV designs for Philco by a C. Speyer Winkler (pict.40, with information from www.wadictatv.com/winkler57.html, with kind permission of Ross Marshall). It is suggestive to assume that both persons are the same. Information about her is contradictory: German emigrant or Italian-American designer? The pictures suggest that she was also involved in the design of the Continental.

Here are the specifications:

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