Located between the front seats of MacGyver’s jeep the VTR 8300T is a mobile “bag phone” which although able to be carried around with the use of the attached handle, MacGyver chose to leave as a permanent fixture in his jeep.
The unit consists of the handset which has the keys and display screen on the top for easy access and use which is attached to the transceiver unit which also houses two separate battery compartments, the areal and inbuilt hands-free speaker & mic. The system has the ability to be hard-wired into a vehicle so the transceiver is located in the trunk with an external aerial positioned on the outside of the vehicle leaving only the handset in the cabin for use – in this scenario the unit would run off the vehicles power supply thus saving the battery; however, MacGyver had the unit as a stand-alone attached to the front of the storage compartment between the front seats, probably due to not using it much.
The phone has all the usual functions associated with mobile phones of the era as well as a unique function for its in-vehicle setup which allows the vehicle’s horn to sound when the phone rings.
| APPEARANCES: The Negotiator Off The Wall | MAKE: NovAtel | MODEL: VTR 8300T |
GALLERY:
Technically, the phone was not between the front seats. It was attached to the front of center console perpendicular to the center console (parallel with the dashboard). In the first image you can see the lock for the center console lid.
Yes, I wondered about that but Deborah appears to reach almost behind the seat when she turned off the phone’s battery, and in Off The Wall he also appears to place the handset towards the back of the center console, also the cord appears to come from the back so it’s a little confusing to figure out just from the episodes.
We’ve updated this page to reflect your information though. Thanks for your help.