In message , at 15:30:13 on Fri, 30 Mar
2012, Stephen Sprunk remarked:
to distinguish the technology from pre-cellular mobile telephones that
were built into automobiles and communicated with base stations with
much longer ranges than transponders on cell towers.

Are you referring to "radio telephones"?

There were cellular car phones as well, back before handheld models were
available.

My recollection is that the first cellular phones were handheld. But
they were heavy and nor very "portable". As a result it was helpful to
mount them in a car, which had other attractions like dealing with the
battery problem and making them less easy to steal. It was also the case
that the kind of demographic who was prepared to fit one in his usually
expensive motor car was very creditworthy and made lots of calls, no
expense spared.
--
Roland Perry