1980 Kirby

[michaelman2]

My mom and dad decided recently to go into assisted living. They have had this vacuum since 1980 and I venture to say that it has not been used in excess of 10 times. This machine has everything from a floor buffer/polisher, to a grinding wheel attachment that can be used for other projects. The owners manual advises this is a "Generation 3"

All original paperwork, manuals and attachments are here. Those in the know might know this make and model from the picture. Let me know what you think?

 

[petek]

Excellent vacuums, extremely reliable, pricey to buy new, near impossible to resell or give away around here. Reasons being is that they are impossibly heavy when not plugged in so many "housewives" cannot even lift them up a few stairs to another floor. Next is that all those attachments while they do work are somewhat kludgy to use and so they aren't and they get relegated to the closet. The ideal house for Kirby is one floor, lots of wall to wall carpet and a closet you can drive it into and out of. With wall to wall carpeting disappearing in favor of hard flooring there's less appealing about them. I took mine over to moms and she liked it initially on first trying it because being self-propelled it's like a feather to manouver.. but as soon as she unplugged it to put away that was enough to turn her off. She couldn't manage it.
Why is it your mom only used it about 10 times in all those years...LOL

 

[iheartmaytag]

You actually have books and attachments from two different machines. The Blue is from the Tradition which was sold from 1979 through 1982. The machine that is pictured is the Gen 3 which was sold 1989 - I believe 93.

 

[michaelman2]

Humm...strange...Iheartmaytag, they purchased it in 1980 and never really used it since. I am not sure how a book for the dates you mention got into their hands?....

 

[michaelman2]

Hey Petek, you are smart. My mom never had to lift the thing, it does weigh a ton. Their housekeeper could not lift it either so you are right again, that is the reason it was never used. There are also (2) Rainbow vacuums in good condition that my ex loved. I always end up making a mess with all of that.

 

[iheartmaytag]

I was selling Kirby in the summer of 1981, the Tradition was the current model. After Tradition was the Heritage, then the Heritage II, then the Legend, then Legend II, and finally the Gen3.
BTW--The Tradition was when Kirby introduced the Paper disposable bag in their vacuums. The Gen3 was the model that they introduced the Tech-Drive, or self-propelled feature.

I was wondering if the Tradition, the blue and gray book was maybe purcheased in the 80's and then the slick sales person came along and offered the "trade" at which time the Gen-3 with it's Tech-Drive became in possession.

Though Kirby is a heavy machine, It is built like a tank, nothing will outclean it, and will last a lifetime. Even when used.

I forgot to add, you may want to pop over to the Vac side of this site for clarification. But if you try putting the attachements from the Tradition on the Gen 3 you will find they will fit the attachment bar, but won't opperate because the safety speed selector switch is in a different place.

I think Kirby does this so you will have to buy new attachments every time you buy a new Kirby.

 

[amyswasher]

Is that a Butler's Kit that's in the front? I also think it's from two different Kirby's.

 

[maytagmark]

The G3 is a great machine, early 90's and looks very nice, You have the hose and attachments which is really all you need, the Handi-butler and floor polisher are from a Tradition, 1980, Most repeat Kirby owners end up with a few of the parts from a previous Kirby. Here is a pic of the Tradition and the G3 with a H2 in the middle.

 

[djmjlcst]

I worked for Kirby as well..........

Hey Harley & Mark,

I worked for Kirby in the Summer of '79. The model that was out was the Classic III. My partner and I purchased one because it was made so well. My aunt bought one and I sold 2 more. My best week was when I sold 3 of them. The paycheck was over $300.00 in my wallet, and I promptly quit. I was a poor college student at the time and $300.00 went far in Summer '79. I left Kirby just as the Tradition was rolling out. I remember my boss telling me that the Tradition was going to a paper bag because people preferred that as opposed to scraping out the cloth bag. I preferred the cloth bag myself. I still have our Kirby Classic III and use it just about every time I vacuum. I also inherited my aunt's Classic III as well so I have one for parts. I broke one of the blades inside the machine when not watching what I was vacuuming and I heard a horrible sound. So when I got my aunt's machine I have a second for parts. - Mike L.