Thread Number: 26286
1959's The New Look in Vacuum Cleaners
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Post# 294746   8/21/2014 at 07:22 (3,508 days old) by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis)        

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Hi everyone, this morning's blog post on Product Stat is a great review of 1959 vacuum cleaners. While I'm sure some will disagree with their findings, it sure makes for an interesting read...

Click here to read it: The New Look in Vacuum Cleaners

I have 100's of more articles to add to the Product Stat Blog and I will be trying to add new articles daily to the site for a while. If there is an article you like and you are a Facebook user, please click the like button at the bottom of the article. Clicking the like button on any article you enjoy will help me greatly in determining what types of articles everyone likes so I can try to post more on that type of subject matter on the blog.

Thanks everyone!


Post# 294752 , Reply# 1   8/21/2014 at 09:04 (3,508 days old) by DesertTortoise ()        

Look at the prices!

Post# 294758 , Reply# 2   8/21/2014 at 09:54 (3,507 days old) by pr-21 (Middletown, OH)        
Thank You again.....

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It would be great to see more of these older consumer reports or other testing information from the 40's, 50's etc.


Thanks very much.


PR-21


Post# 294759 , Reply# 3   8/21/2014 at 09:56 (3,507 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)        

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Very interesting read Robert!

Post# 294760 , Reply# 4   8/21/2014 at 10:06 (3,507 days old) by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis)        

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It would be great to see more of these older consumer reports or other testing information from the 40's, 50's etc.

Thanks Bud, I have plenty more Vacuum related things to post. I plan on trying to do a vacuum cleaner related post at least once a week. Please do check the new Product Stat website often for updates on all kinds of products.


Post# 294850 , Reply# 5   8/21/2014 at 22:06 (3,507 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada)        

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Excellent reading material for us cleanerphiles!

Thank you Robert for all you do! :-)


Post# 294852 , Reply# 6   8/21/2014 at 22:25 (3,507 days old) by eurekastar (Amarillo, Texas)        

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Thank you so much for post! An enjoyable read!

Post# 294858 , Reply# 7   8/21/2014 at 23:13 (3,507 days old) by DesertTortoise ()        

Can't wait to read the reviews of the 1971 and 1983 vacuums.

Post# 294879 , Reply# 8   8/22/2014 at 04:13 (3,507 days old) by kenkart ()        
It just makes me

SICK I didnt get to live back then when just about everything built was 1 quality, 2 interesting and innovative and 3 made right here!..Not China!

Post# 294894 , Reply# 9   8/22/2014 at 08:51 (3,507 days old) by DesertTortoise ()        

It was a mixed bag back then. Some things were better made, some were not. I owned cars with wing vent windows, curb feelers, suspensions so loosy-goosy the car would roll so bad the curb feelers would scrap during a brisk left hander (say to make a yellow light in the left turn notch), defrosters that didn't, vacuum wipers that stopped working when you accelerated, tube AM only radios, bias ply tires, drum brakes that were scary dangerous in the rain, suspensions that had to be lubed regularly and frequently by hand or the whole car squeaked like a cheap motel matress, and you had manual steering that required about twenty turns lock to lock, made parking lots of fun!

Or how about motorcycles with engines that needed top end rebuilds every 20K miles, often less than that (cast iron cylinders and heads), no through studs from the case to the head so a hot engine could start lifing the cylinder barrels off the case when you got on it, and small tube diameter frames with cast junctions that flexed visibly under any kind of hard cornering load. Riding my old iron barreled Sportsters fast on a mountain road you could see the skinny forks flex and the frame felt like it had a hinge under the seat from the way it would load up and let go, what piles of shyte those things were. Rear tires back then were skinnier than modern front tires and everything was bias ply and slithered around under cornering loads or on rain grooves. No drive belts or O-ring chains back then either, you had to oil the chain every other gas stop and it was always messy back there from oil flung off the chain. Modern carbon fiber belts are so much better.

TVs were black and white, had no horizontal or vertical hold to speak of (you had to adjust vertical and horizontal hold seemingly every time you changed channels, but you only had 13 channels max back then), required constant little adjustments to contrast and brightness, antennas required constant fiddling to find a signal and all the stations went off the air from midnight till 6:00 am. At midnight they would show a picture of a US flag waving in the breeze, play the national anthem and from then till six all you would see is a test pattern. Oh yeah, you had to march down to the tube tester in the grocery store at regular intervals to test your tubes and replace the defective ones. I vividly remember my dad showing me how to use a heavy duty screwdriver to discharge something in the back of the TV so you didn't kill yourself when you started removing the tubes to test them. Eff that!


No pcs back then, no internet, no web discussions like this, and vacuums back then were not all that powerful in many cases. Some were close to what you can buy today but vacs didn't really start getting good until the 1980s.

Oh, and back then peanut butter was not homogenized, so the oil separated and required vigorous stirring every time you opened the jar. And people smoked in the grocery store. Gross. I remember watching a butcher cut meat with a smoke in his mouth. Everyone smoked everywhere. It was horrible that way.

And, there was no duct tape!

Nope, I am very much glad I live when I do and not in the past.


Post# 294979 , Reply# 10   8/22/2014 at 15:46 (3,506 days old) by dysonman1 (the county)        

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Interesting that the Electrolux Automatic F was listed at $99.75 - which was it's price without the optional $19 cord winder - yet the machine is pictured WITH the cord rewinder.

Vacuums in the past clogged up really fast. The old one-ply bags were terrible at filtration. The Air-Way, Filter Queen, and Rainbow were about the only machines that were really good at filtration, and the Rainbow never clogged or lost suction (no matter what James Dyson would say).

Sad that they never mentioned the Hoover blowing dust out of the rug, filling the air in the room. Anyone who used a Constellation for more than a moment knows this.


Post# 295011 , Reply# 11   8/22/2014 at 17:54 (3,506 days old) by DesertTortoise ()        

Modern paper bags are pretty lousy too. I didn't even half fill one of my vacs using a paper Kenmore C bag and the vac was already dusty inside the bag chamber and a little bit in the motor compartment. Field stripped, cleaned (again, sigh) and this time put a good HEPA bag in it. No more dust.

Post# 295037 , Reply# 12   8/22/2014 at 20:33 (3,506 days old) by kenkart ()        
I think..

Most of the old cars I have had drove great, but most were Chrysler products which had torsion bar suspension which was wonderful , their power steering and brakes were far superior to anything today, one finger turned it and the tip of your toe shopped it, as for vacuums...I can prove several made in the 50s were much more powerful than the new stuff, a Dual Deluxe Sunbeam or Apex Strato Cleaner has as much sealed suction and much more airflow than ANYTHING today...Im ready for the TIME MACHINE...cause if anyone ever invets one..IM GONE!!LOL..And boy would I go back to the 4 channels we used to get if I could see Arthur Smith in the morning, the Betty Feezor Show, I could go ON and oN!!!

Post# 295045 , Reply# 13   8/22/2014 at 21:32 (3,506 days old) by hydralique (Los Angeles)        

I wish they had tested a Compact or Revelation (the version sold by vacuum stores). Those have plenty of power, perhaps not as much as the Sunbeam or Apex but certainly enough to do a fine job of vacuuming most surfaces. They also have good filtration with the primary filter bag and large secondary filter on the nose of the motor. Disposable paper bags were also available to fit in the reusable filter bag that eliminated most dirty bag issues and added a third layer of filtration. Properly maintained Compacts last a long time because the motors stay clean and the rest is mostly made of high quality metal castings.

 

I am looking forward to seeing more tests, can't wait!


Post# 295055 , Reply# 14   8/22/2014 at 22:01 (3,506 days old) by smow69 (Muskogee Oklahoma)        
great read

Do you have anything on Shampooer Polishers and household floor Buffers?
I remember my mom buffing our hard wood floors as a child in the dinning room.and waxing was a chore back then with paste wax.not like todays liquid waxes.and a sponge mop.


Post# 295062 , Reply# 15   8/22/2014 at 23:19 (3,506 days old) by super-sweeper (KSSRC Refurbishment Center)        
No web-discussions like this?

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Who said that? laughingtongue-out


Post# 295075 , Reply# 16   8/23/2014 at 00:43 (3,506 days old) by kenkart ()        
RE Compact

In my book a Compact was one of the best cleaners, for the above reasons...simplicity!!!! A well enginered machine .

Post# 295077 , Reply# 17   8/23/2014 at 01:21 (3,506 days old) by DesertTortoise ()        

Different strokes for different folks Kenkart. I grew up driving and wrenching on 1950s through 1970s Chrysler products, from an old flathead six Plymouth with three on the tree and electric overdrive (that's the rolly polly piglet that scraped the curb feelers on corners) to a big old hairy chested ex-CHP Monaco that the Chippies put a hot cam (street Hemi grind I believe), baffled sump, windage tray, yanked the mufflers off of and did some other things to (it had oil coolers for the engine, gearbox and power steering). It was what they called a "140 cruiser" because it topped out at 140 mph (unmodified CHP Monacos topped out at 126 mph I was told), if you could keep it in tune (ha, no small feat). There was a 1964 Valiant and an early 70's Satellite sedan in there too. In hindsight the only good one of the bunch was the Valiant. The rest were poorly made cars. The Monaco was a maintenance nightmare and when the cloth insulate wiring in the old 54 plymouth started to rot it was one short after another. Again, horrible.

All of Chryslers autoboxes called it quits around 100K miles unless you put a Transco Stage 3 shift kit in them, otherwise the second to third upshift took too long and the slippage would heat everything and eventually burn out the transmission. That shift kit was shall we say firm but didn't allow any of the slippage that led to premature transmission failures in stock Torqueflites. It would chirp the tires accelerating into second gear on the Valiant which I'm sure wasn't so good for the old fashioned ball and trunion front U-joint (gawd Chrysler stuck with those miserable things forever).

I didn't know what a well built and well thought out car was till I bought my first high end German sedan. One finger steering and brakes you only have to breathe on to put your head in the dashboard? Nah. I like good German iron with solid heavy steering and brakes you can modulate right on the wee edge of lock up without getting into the ABS, four wheel discs when nearly all American cars still had rear drums. German cars are tactile and talk to you in ways no American car does. They don't start to feel light at speed either. A mid 70's Mercedes 280E or BMW Bavaria was so much better in every possible way than any American car of that era at any price it isn't even funny. Floaty boats like those old American cars with no weight to the steering and no damping in the suspension are horrible to drive, at least to me they are. American car companies are only now starting to figure it out but pushed to the edge of traction the German cars don't feel like the want to bite you, they'll let you play at the edge of the tires, while most American cars and Toyotas start to get kinda loose feeling like they might roll or swap ends.


Post# 295128 , Reply# 18   8/23/2014 at 11:54 (3,505 days old) by hydralique (Los Angeles)        

I’m not a big fan of the way old American large sedans drive either, but comparing a Mercedes or BMW Bavaria to most any Chrysler of the era is a little unfair. When the Bavaria was introduced about ‘70 they advertised it at $4995 but hardly anyone ever saw one of those, close to $6000 was more like it by the time it hit the dealership with a few options. Still a good value for a nice car but far more than the vast majority of Chrysler products actually sold for.

If the Bavaria had an automatic it was a ZF three speed which at the time wasn’t known for longevity. In the late ‘70s I had an acquaintance who for years had bought second hand Citroens and driven the crap out of them. Citroen left the US in ‘73 and so he a found nice, well kept Bavaria. First the ZF died, once that was fixed the cylinder head cracked, another known issue with the old BMW inline sixes. It wasn’t a bad car but took lots more maintenance than most, I remember how flummoxed he was trying to keep that thing running.

ZF eventually fixed the three speed, my mother drove an early ‘80s Peugeot 505 to over 180,000 miles which had one of the last three speed automatics but the next year they supplied a four speed to both BMW and Peugeot. That gearbox was so bad it often failed during a routine smog test! Seems like the clutches wouldn’t release fully in neutral and if the engine was then revved up as the test required it could destroy them. There were lawsuits against BMW on that one. My mother replaced the 505 with an Eagle Premier in ‘92 which had a ZF four speed automatic. That gearbox lasted 67,000 miles being driven by the proverbial little old lady schoolteacher before it died. I much prefer to shift my own gears but if I were buying an automatic would not trust any ZF gearbox unless I knew for sure that it had been around for awhile and proven reliable.


Post# 295165 , Reply# 19   8/23/2014 at 15:28 (3,505 days old) by kenkart ()        
To each his own!

Ill take fins and pushbuttons ANYDAY.

Post# 295173 , Reply# 20   8/23/2014 at 15:53 (3,505 days old) by gottahaveahoove (Pittston, Pennsylvania, 18640)        
I know they weren't as safe as our current cars,

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but, they were beautiful! Classic American designs. American pride. Some were driving up Main Street today in a parade. You can't NOT just look at them and think: "wow".
I'll soon post pics of what "I" think are HOOVER'S finest vacuums. I truly bwelieve they were HOOVER'S finest hour. Some of you might agree. of course, 'my genration' (like I went to school with Jesus!) could purchase vacuums that would last. Actually, it was my parents' generation. I found an old phone (landline) that had "Olympia-4" on the dial. Yes, it is a DIAL. Thankfully, 'Mummy' didn't have to wash the laundry down at the river. We had a Westinghouse (yes, I'm SURE it was a Westinghouse! Did y'all get that??? If not, perhaps you're just a mere child. It plugged into the WALL.... we had electricity all the way back ... in 1958.... when thyey bought the house (then only 80+ yrs old)... with The Oldmobile 88 in the driveway. In 1961, the HOOVER 67 made its way into the house. STILL running.


Post# 295193 , Reply# 21   8/23/2014 at 16:57 (3,505 days old) by hydralique (Los Angeles)        

I grew up with a Hoover, I believe a Model 61 though am not sure. My parents bought it second hand from a vacuum shop shortly before I was born and then used it for the next 20 years. Every time it had a problem some vac shop would fix it and tell my mother "you can buy a different vacuum but it won't be better". I am sure at some point it was taken in for service in the trunk of the '58 Plymouth four-door hardtop, black with a white vinyl and black cloth interior and of course a pushbutton Torqueflite to push those tailfins down the road!

 

Eventually the Hoover was profoundly worn out and my mother got a self-propelled Eureka that she liked quite a lot. She is decidedly an upright person, while I always liked canisters with some real suction, something the Hoover didn't have when using the tools. For me, my aunt's splendid GE swivel top and my grandmother's Kirby were far more interesting. Mom never liked the Kirby but she and my father recently moved halfway across the country and didn't both shipping whatever vac replaced the Eureka since I told them I had plenty of vacuums. When they moved into their new place here I had already stashed a Kirby Legend II in the hall closet so she's having to use a Kirby for awhile, we'll see how long that lasts! I did make her admit that it does a really good job on the carpet . . .


Post# 295245 , Reply# 22   8/23/2014 at 23:49 (3,505 days old) by DesertTortoise ()        

Hmm, from what I have seen Hoovers canisters were leagues ahead of their uprights in terms of quality. It is almost like the uprights and canisters came from two different companies. Electrolux, Kenmore and Panasonic you see some shared genetics between their uprights and canisters, sometimes shared parts, while it looks to me like Hoover put all their best talent to work engineering their canisters and left the newbies or Wallys (Wally from Dilbert) to worry about the uprights.

Post# 295257 , Reply# 23   8/24/2014 at 02:15 (3,505 days old) by electrolux137 (Los Angeles)        

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~
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@smow69, do you recall what brand and model floor polisher your mom had? My mom had an Electrolux E-Automatic vacuum cleaner with the polisher attachment when I was a little boy. She used Johnson Wax Beautiflor liquid polish with it. I've always loved the unique scent of that particular wax because it "takes me back to days of yore."

I am just about as crazy as floor polishers as I am vacuum cleaners, and I have plenty of them! My two favorites are the first-version Electrolux air-powered scrubber & polisher, and the RP & HP series of Johnson-Wax electric floor polishers. Love 'em love 'em love em!!

First some Electrolux polishers, then in an update to the thread some Johnson polishers.


  Photos...       <              >      Photo 1 of 20         View Full Size
Post# 295260 , Reply# 24   8/24/2014 at 02:31 (3,505 days old) by electrolux137 (Los Angeles)        

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~
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Some Johnson-Wax polishers...

The eight B/W images are prototypes made by Brooks Stevens, the designer of the fabulous Modern-Hygiene tank vacuum cleaner. While I haven't ever run across any definite proof, these prototypes leads me to believe that he was the designer for the RP and HP series polishers.

I also have quite a few other "miscellaneous" polishers that I can post photos of if anyone's interested.


  Photos...       <              >      Photo 1 of 20         View Full Size
Post# 295348 , Reply# 25   8/25/2014 at 09:52 (3,503 days old) by rugsucker (Elizabethton TN)        
Johnsons and design

Johnsons wax had great ads,store displays and packaging in their early days.They became even more well known with the F L Wright association in the 30s with the office building,research tower and home for H Johnson.(Wright wanted to move all operations to a new site,but Johnson wanted to remain at the old location and add on.)
The Brooks Stevens drawings are great and show dual handle idea that seems to have never been produced.Another project Stevens worked on was a custom travel trailer for the Johnson family to use on trips to South America to buy raw materials for making wax.


Post# 295373 , Reply# 26   8/25/2014 at 16:01 (3,503 days old) by kenkart ()        
RE Chrysler Automatic..

NO transmission has ever equalled the Torqueflite...thats a proven fact!it took GM until the mid 60s to get one even close..the Turbo 400 was good and the Ford c6 was good, but both were still not as heavy duty or reliable as the 727 TF...ask any tranny shop owner!

Post# 295390 , Reply# 27   8/25/2014 at 17:42 (3,503 days old) by electrolux137 (Los Angeles)        

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~
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I was in Hollywood last night and saw a couple of trannies.

Oh, wait...


Post# 295451 , Reply# 28   8/26/2014 at 03:39 (3,503 days old) by tolivac (Greenville,NC)        

Just have to ask-have you run all of those polishing heads at once-bet that would be neat-Really like the polished chrome one-BEAUTIFUL!!!It would require a huge air supply to run them at once!!!Glad to be back to vacuums instead of cars!

Post# 295517 , Reply# 29   8/26/2014 at 16:23 (3,502 days old) by DesertTortoise ()        

Kencart, every Torqueflite I ever owned had the same fault, the second to third upshift was too slow, and the heat build up from this eventually led to failure around the 100K mile mark. A GM THM-350 is every bit as good a slushbox as the Torqueflite. The Chrysler products I owned all had crappy interior materials everywhere you looked but the arm rests on those old Mopars are particluarly offensive with their chromed plastic and guaranteed to split open cheap vinyl covering, unsupportive seats, disintgrating seat foam (I used to get a swirl of foam dust going in one Plymouth from the rotted seat foam that fell to the floor and subsequently blew around the interior with the windows open), interior door molding that always shrank in the heat and pulled away from the door, wing vent windows that whisteled practically from the say you bought the car, garbage Carter carbs that would not start when cold or the miserable Thermoquad bodies made from some plastic that heat warped, leaked and cost over $100 just to replace the plastic body, dieseling after shut down, undersprung and under damped suspensions, too much unsprung weight combined with primative leaf spring rear suspensions, numb over boosted steering yet if you tried to turn the wheel too fast while parking the power steering pump could not keep up and it was like the steering wheel hit a hard stop even though you had more steering lock left, just junk. Terrible cars, but every US made car then was terrible. Plus most Chryslers had huge C-pillars making it feel like you sitting down inside a big dark cave. I look at them now and marvel at all the wasted space they had and how much car overhung the wheels at each end. The best thing to happen for drivers was competition from better engineered foreign automobiles (and motorcycles, Harleys were even further behind the rest of the world in terms of their engineering).

Anyway, I'm done with those cars, and with automatic transmissions of any kind. My two cars both have manual gear boxes, one of which has 185K on the original clutch and has never been apart.


Post# 295528 , Reply# 30   8/26/2014 at 17:35 (3,502 days old) by kenkart ()        
Im not going to argue!...

LOL, im just passionate about Chryslers, and, if I could afford the gas, I would drive a big old vintage car everyday..a little background, I grew up with Oldsmobiles, my Mother loved them as did most of my Aunts and Uncles, our next door neighbor always drove Dodges, when I was 16 he let me drive his car...I have been hooked every since, I love a big old car, the only new cars I really like are wayyyy too expensive unless you are a doctor or lawyer LOL, but if I had that kind of money, I could retreat into the past which is what I dream of anyway,,in the 80s and 90s, my everyday driver cars were old Dodges and Plymouths, a 62 Fury, a 68 Sport Fury,a 67 Fury 3 4 door hardtop, and a 53 Plymouth Cranbrook, I drove all of these and truthfully have never been left on the side of the road, so you see I have confidence in them...GM on the other hand, has been bad bad bad as far as im concerned, ive been stopped several times waiting for a wrecker with them!My main thing about new cars is...not everyone wants a BMW..I want isolated cushy comfort...a bench seat, power steering that is full time and super touchy brakes!

Post# 295531 , Reply# 31   8/26/2014 at 18:06 (3,502 days old) by DesertTortoise ()        

GM has and had awful bodies. I had an Old Gutless Supreme once. Every panel gap was uneven, the doors were hung crooked in their frames and you could see where some chimp slopped some lead on the seam where the roof panel butted up to the C-pillar, took a quick swipe with a grinder and called it good to go. You could see the lumpy surface and grind marks through the orange peeled paint. What a pile.

I drive a lot of rental cars on work related travel and the best US made cars now are the Ford Focus. It puts boatloads of other small cars on the trailer for the quality of interior materials, seat comfort and all around tightness. They feel pretty close to good German iron until you try pushing them past 8/10s, then they get loose. I haven't tried the Focus ST yet. Modern GMs still blow, the seat cushions are too short and the controls and instrumentation just don't have a high quality feel.

You would like a Toyota Avalon. I hate them but fiancee is weird for them. Talk about numb feeling floaty boats! On some desert roads the suspension alternates between being fully topped and fully compressed, and not all corners of the car are doing the same thing at the same time. I get sick riding as a passenger in it. It's just like an old American boat. Room galore front and back, the back seats recline and you can stretch your lets out even with the front seats all the way back. It is the only Japanese car with enough front leg and arm room for me. Usually I don't fit Asian cars, only the Germans seem to build a car that fits my frame. The real laugh, or groan, is that the darn Avalon has a higher domestic US content than any other car made. The plant is in Kentucky and all the suppliers to it are in the US as well.

For me I have a pair of Audi 90s, one a five banger and the other a V-6, both with five speed manuals. Both are way faster than my old 440 Dodge Monaco ever was, both would leave the Dodge like a bad habit on a twisty road, and both are more comfortable for me to drive. They are just what I need and not an ounce or millimeter more. Both have double sided galvanized steel bodies that will never rust and everything feels like a much bigger German sport sedan. Where they shine is when you push them to the limit. They will break traction gracefully and never threaten to do anything bad. Wish I could say the same of the American cars I've similarly pushed. That darn Focus feels so good up to 8/10s then it all starts to come apart at the seams. I really want to like that car too.


Post# 295536 , Reply# 32   8/26/2014 at 18:35 (3,502 days old) by kenkart ()        
Avalon...

in 05 when Greg had the wash in at Omaha, Jerry Gay had a new Avalon, we drove it and yes I was very impressed, we drove about 800 miles the first day and were not a bit uncomfortable, my idea of a sports car is a 1960 Chrysler 300 F..!!!

Post# 295537 , Reply# 33   8/26/2014 at 18:42 (3,502 days old) by kenkart ()        
Hamilton Beach Hatbox...

What a nice design, I have the Eureka and Singers, dont use them much because bags are darn near impossible to fing, the GEs are also favorites,as is the Constellation, oh to go back to the days of these being new...I can see my Youngstown kitchen now!!LOL

Post# 295540 , Reply# 34   8/26/2014 at 19:30 (3,502 days old) by super-sweeper (KSSRC Refurbishment Center)        

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Kenkart, there's a Chrysler 300 in the same lot as my 1961 DreamSoto! Not sure if it's the 'F' One you speak of, though! cool

 

Robert, thanks for sharing! Isn't it wonderful to look back at the past? Land-Barges, easier living, and Hamilton-Beach HatBox canisters, I love you, 1959! laughing


Post# 295544 , Reply# 35   8/26/2014 at 19:54 (3,502 days old) by kenkart ()        
Oh to hear..

Those two four barrel AFBs on Ram Induction sucking premium leaded Sunoco 260 gas!!To H$%^ with the EPA!

Post# 295554 , Reply# 36   8/26/2014 at 22:42 (3,502 days old) by DesertTortoise ()        

There are modern DOHC V-6s that will put those old 4-bbl carbed big blocks on the trailer. And they are both more drivable and quieter while putting more power to the ground. One of my fiancées two Avalons, the 2007 Touring model, has 285 horses, quite a bit more SAE horses than my last big block Dodge had and it turns 0-60 mph in about six seconds flat. That big block thing couldn't begin to touch that Avalon, even with all the CHP hot rodding done to it.

Ever drive a BMW M3 with a straight six and manual trans? That's an engine. Six cylinders standing at attention, smooth, flexible and big power, more than my Dodge or my fiancées Avalon. Dodge Dart weight and more than big block power on a suspensions that just begs you to get sideways. The car talks to you through the wheel, pedals and seat. None of this floaty boat suspension and numb steering stuff of old American iron.


Post# 295560 , Reply# 37   8/27/2014 at 00:31 (3,502 days old) by hydralique (Los Angeles)        
M3s and RS4s . . .

A good friend of mine has had an M3 inline six four door for years and I’ve driven it a few times. Nice car for the most part, the only thing that gets me (and him too) is the way the clutch engages right at the top of the travel. It did have a replacement gearbox under warranty but that was for gearbox issues and didn’t affect the clutch feel. The chassis is good and manages some compliance in spite of being fairly firm. A better compromise IMO than an older 750 another friend used to have, that was a real barge but still rode poorly on city streets.

M3 bud once had an Audi RS4 on loan when he lent Audi some nice collector cars to display at their design center in Santa Monica. That car was schizoid: it felt like a very, very heavy and plush A4 until you punched it then all hell broke loose, IIRC it had a V8 out of the big A8 and made well over 400 hp. We all took turns driving the crap out of it up and down La Tuna Canyon. Hard on it out of corners it reminded me of my sister’s old deTomaso Pantera because it would pull like a freight train to 100 in third accompanied with a lovely V8 wail. The problem for me was that the car didn’t feel special until you got on it and then you were instantly at go-to-jail speeds. It was certainly lots of fun on a Sunday morning though. My friend liked it as well but after years of trying to keep an ‘82 urQuattro coupe on the road he’ll stick to the M3, it’s far more reliable.


Post# 295563 , Reply# 38   8/27/2014 at 01:09 (3,502 days old) by kenkart ()        
To Each his own!

But a BMW rides and steers like a wagon, Ill take good old American luxury from the 60s anyday.

Post# 295565 , Reply# 39   8/27/2014 at 01:35 (3,502 days old) by electrolux137 (Los Angeles)        

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~
~

My goodness, all this butch car talk is making me a bit moist!


Post# 295566 , Reply# 40   8/27/2014 at 01:42 (3,502 days old) by tolivac (Greenville,NC)        

Was this about 1959 vacuum cleaners or something-its now a car forum!

Post# 295567 , Reply# 41   8/27/2014 at 01:43 (3,502 days old) by hydralique (Los Angeles)        
Moist?

Maybe we should talk about Rainbows, lol! Actually Charles you did a very butch job of those Kirbys for your church friend. I need to put a new bearing in my Classic 1cr. It was my grandmother's vac and was thought lost after she died in '97 but was recently rediscovered in storage much to my delight, it was always supposed to be mine. However it is very dull and noisy so I'm trying to work up the courage to tear into it, cars are easier for me!


Post# 295579 , Reply# 42   8/27/2014 at 03:55 (3,502 days old) by kenkart ()        
It is strange...

They didnt test a Compact, Dual Deluxe Sunbeam, Apex Strato Cleaner, Silver King,,,,I do love old Consumer Reports, I try to buy them when I see them at estate sales, although they are rare, I disagree with them about the GE, I always thought they were among the best store brands.

Post# 295612 , Reply# 43   8/27/2014 at 09:32 (3,501 days old) by dysonman1 (the county)        

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Consumer Reports tested the Compact C-4 the previous year (1958). They did not like it - mostly due to the outrageous price ($229) and sales method. There were many times CR did NOT get it right. History has proven that. In Dec. 1936, the Hoover model 150 was the LOWEST rated 'acceptable' vacuum cleaner. The Air-Way Super Chief (twin motor) was rated "not acceptable". In 1938, the Rexair model A was rated "not acceptable" due to the 'probability of shock hazard'. I've never known anyone who was shocked by their Rexair (except, they WERE shocked at the dirt it picked up). In 1947, they DID get it 'right' - naming the Air-Way Sanitizor model 55 the top canister vacuum, followed by the Lewyt model 40. In 1971, they absolutely got it 'right' with the top rated vacuum being the beautiful Electrolux 1205 with pistol grip electric hose and telescopic wand, and PN-1. This was followed by the second highest rated cleaner, the Electrolux model L with the same hose, wand, and nozzle set up.

Today, Consumer Reports does NOT get it right most of the time. That's due to the fact that they don't test the cleaners long enough, don't take them apart to report on design flaws, and don't give durability enough credit. Why must they (year after year) give that horrible Kenmore Intuition canister the top spot?


Post# 295637 , Reply# 44   8/27/2014 at 10:17 (3,501 days old) by DesertTortoise ()        

Dysonman1, CR rates the Kenmore Progressive the top canister, claiming the Elite Intuition is over priced for what you get in comparison to the Progressive. Either way they never say anything about the funky near useless tools that come on the Progressive and never once compare it to the better Panasonic canisters, which IMHO have all the strengths of the Kenmores (they ought to considering their mutual parentage) but their tools and wands remain conventional. To me the Panasonics are the best value in a canister vac but CR seems to ignore them. It just reinforces my generally low opinion of CR.

Post# 295758 , Reply# 45   8/27/2014 at 20:31 (3,501 days old) by Gr8DaneDad ()        

I could not agree with you more regarding the ineptitude of CR. If I want to know what to scratch off my short list first I check to see if CR has recommended any of them....


Post# 295762 , Reply# 46   8/27/2014 at 21:10 (3,501 days old) by kenkart ()        
Re CR

Tom you hit it right on the head as usual...I love the old CR but they did often get it wrong, remember what they rated as the best vacuum in 36..a GE of all things, now I like old GEs but comparing a 150 to a ge is like compairing a Imperial to a go cart!, to my mind a 150 is probably the finest upright ever built!And to get a shock from a Rexair, you really would have to do something stupid...like get in the bathtub with it!!LOL

Post# 295763 , Reply# 47   8/27/2014 at 21:46 (3,501 days old) by super-sweeper (KSSRC Refurbishment Center)        

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Maybe they thought the bathtub could serve as a very-large water pan....? tongue-out


Post# 295765 , Reply# 48   8/27/2014 at 22:01 (3,501 days old) by kenkart ()        
LOL!

I guess you could get a shock if you turned it over while off then turned it on...but the stupid things people do still never cease to amaze me! LOL

Post# 295807 , Reply# 49   8/28/2014 at 09:59 (3,500 days old) by rugsucker (Elizabethton TN)        
Consumer Reports-

-has also said in more recent years that the SE Rainbow had no way to store cord.And that the Eureka Brave would be a great vac.(Ask anyone who repaired vacs at that time if they got that right!)

Post# 295812 , Reply# 50   8/28/2014 at 10:18 (3,500 days old) by dysonman1 (the county)        

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CR also said the Air-Way upright motor would be "very short lived" because it used sleeve bearings. I've never seen a bad Air-Way upright motor.

Post# 319085 , Reply# 51   3/22/2015 at 22:16 (3,294 days old) by mjm0424 (Chicago suburbs)        
Plymouth Valiant

mjm0424's profile picture
I think that the Plymouth Valiant/Duster was one of the BEST cars ever made! They were reliable,good on gas-if you bought the slant/6. Always started,even in the coldest weather.They were easy to repair,even if you had to have a mechanic do it,the repairs were relatively cheap. The Valiant model was especially popular with older women;Avocado green,& Tawny gold were the favorites! The Duster even came in a high performance model,& was also popular. The only bad thing about the cars-the body rusted out long before the engine died,even if you had it Ziebarted.I remember fixing my 1973 Duster-with the snakeskin top. Many nights were spent in my friend Kenny's garage,bondoing it,& fixing the rotting underrcarrige with sheet metal.


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