A couple of weeks ago I saw this Hoover listed on craigslist.com They were asking $40 for it so I emailed him an offer of $20 and he sent me an email saying that he would accept. I went this evening to pick it up. The vacuum itself is in great condition with the exception that it needs to have an original switch put back on it. It has a newer hose, and all the tools, however all the tools are filthy and need cleaned up. The powernozzle is in so-so condition with a lot of gouges in the decal, but it seems to work pretty good. I thought $20 wasn't bad. Here are some pics :)
Try running the tools through the dishwasher... I hear that works wonders!
The switch on that looks to be original. There was a batch of them that had a rocker switch instead of the regular, trademark Hoover flippy toggle switch. My guess is because of the increased amperage these cleaners pulled, a different, beefier switch was necessary.
In fact, that cleaner is the same one that we have under one of our workbenches at the store. Under my workbench is a minty green and chrome Celebrity QS. Both clebrities have seen waaaay better days, and have been rebuilt mutliple times. But, if you think about it, they probably get used (on and off, on and off) for about 20-30 minutes or so a day, 5-6 days per week Those Celebrities were great cleaners, and although eventually the suction power will decrease some, those held it pretty well as the bag filled up--I heard an old-time Hoover rep saying once that when the Celebrity first came out, one of the demonstrations they woud do was to take a bag of flour, and vacuum it up... then let customers feel how the suction didn't decrease a whole lot.
As far as Celebrities go, that style of them is not at the top of my list... I mean, they're awesome machines, but looks-wise, they don't send me. I love the chrome QS series, and the plain, flat, floaty ones. :-)
And my only issue with that particular style of model is the three wimpy wheels that are on the underside of the cleaner. Not the easiest to maneuver.
I'll try to post some pictures of the Celebrities I have in my collection.
Another great find, Derreck, that robin's egg blue is one of my favorite colors. I too have seen some on eBay without the "control center" on the front that had the rocker switch, and also some with the foot-pedal switch as well (which appears more common).
I'm keeping close watch on a couple of them right now that are basically identical machines, except one has the beater-bar P/N like yours and the other has a Quadraflex on it. It's the subtle discrepancies between models that I find most interesting, really...
