My Gran who live in a Town called Oudshorn in the western Cape her in SA had a very cool old house built in the late 1800's. We went up to visit as a family at least once a year, I loved going there. 

My Grans had two cleaning machines that I just loved, A Columbus polisher, I own one of these and a Electrolux 404, A Locally designed Vacuum sold in what I had originally thought were two variations, The yellow hooded Electrolux 404 which had a height adjustment lever on one side and a On off switch on the other and a Columbus Carpet Saver which featured a Orange Hood and its on off switch was operated when the handle was released.  Both these machines were sold with a similar shaped 3 brush polisher.

 I have been searching for one of these machines for ages but never found one, However less than a year ago I got a Unique version of the polisher Called a Concorde Then a few weeks ago a good friend and fellow vacuum collector said he had seen a vacuum version of this machine in a repair shop in Pretoria, He was kind enough to get the owners name, The machine was not working but we arranged a price and I had the machine shipped to Cape Town 

Some before pics, Tried switching it on but it Just hummed 

Here it is with its polisher twin 

Tear down, Wow it was dirty  

What a unique looking vacuum. At first I thought it was a floor polisher. Could you please show a photo of the bottom of it. Thanks, Randy  

Top bearing was still OK , Bottom one was jammed.

Motor made in November 1976 

The suction fan is aluminium It has cooling find on the back for cooling the motor

Holes in the base for the hot air to be drawn out of the motor.

Looks like you sent some more photos while I was posting the first message. Could you show a photo without the belt guard on. Thanks again.

I can't believe all the dust and crud under the hood!

Here it is without the bottom plate on. The one I am looking for the most has a smoother looking hood , 

I did wonder why would you buy this over a Hoover Convertible?IE what was the selling point as when this was been sold in SA Electrolux was more known for their cylinders than Uprights. ( that all changed with the introductions of the 500 range )  But what I can tell you is it weighs about half the weight of a Hoover convertible ( metal base and is considerably lighter than a plastic based convertible too

On the left is the Columbus carpetsaver vacuum version, The Electrolux 404 Looked the same exept it had a Yellow hood  and the Orange on the on the right is a Columbus B30 polisher version.

Underneath the vacuum versions and the polisher versions machines are all vertually identical exept for some small differences ( ie switches and handle release mechanisms  

That's quite the BEAST!  I would love to see a Youtube video of it in operation!

That vacuum looks like FUN! Wish we got them here in the states!

Can't wait to see it when it's done. I love it! Hey, do you know the year it was made and what it might have cost new? Just wondering.

I assume that the bag would often get overfilled, which would explain all the dust and stuff under the hood?

Hey Thanks Guys, Yes this was a designed in SA model but I do not know if it was exported, It may well have been.

I will say that this hood style is not the most stylish I prefer the style my gran had But its different. 

The motor is a 350watt motor similar to that found in Convertibles and Sanitares.

Here are the carbon brushes, Its hard to see in these photo's but these are the thinnest brushes I have ever seen. About half the thickness of a normal set of carbon brushes.

 The base is super light, 

Motor reassembled,

Fan on with out pulley

The pulley belt and brush on. 

I just realized the photo's are out of order, The fan had to go on first then it was attached to the base. 

First test run with the hood off, Seated the carbon brushes as well 

Here it is with a Convertible.

So much bigger but yet so much lighter  

Here it is with its bag all blown up, The bag on my grans one fasinated me as a kid, My own Moms machine a Hard bagged Moulinex Major hid the bag away.

On my grans machine the bag had the Electrolux emblem imprinted on the bag.

I love the shape of the bag on this machine  

Rex , Yes their was a major falior of the fancase gasket. 

I love the way it grooms the carpet. The bristles are thick and give the carpet a lovely fresh look 

I would not be surprised if they imported a few sample Sanitaires/ Eureka's to help get ideas to design this one

I thought I would share these pics here for those of you who had not seen that I found the exact model I was looking for. 

Thanks

The same here, many machines I would love to have from over their too.

They were slightly cheaper, In those days, The 70's Hoover commanded a premium