A time capsule opened and look what was inside...

[redcarpetdrew]

A customer of mine, 93 years young!, called for service on a K/A stove. It's in a house older than the hills and belonged to a prominent doctor way before that. Well, I was admiring a beautiful curio cabinet and she said that her sons were cleaning out a old cottage behind the house. They already cleared out a bunch of washers and dryers she had kept over the years, coppertone and pink being the colors. TO THE DUMP, Aaiiieeeeee! But there was still her first washer there. An old Kenmore. Would I like to look?

Ok, everybody raise your hands if you know what my answer was... LOL!

It's available and would I like to offer something as it would certainly be worth a small amount at the recyclers. I did and she'll talk to her sons. Look at these pics and give me advice as to what you'd think a fair offer would be...

Presenting the Kenmore!

 

[redcarpetdrew]

So, whatcha think? OMG. She took it out of service just because she thought it was getting old...

There are also some neat older cars to be sold off. A time capsule there too. Any interest and I'll take pictures and post. A souped up Chrysler (ordered from the dealer with the hottest engine available!), a clean station wagon, etc. She doesn't want to just advertise as she wants to keep crowds from invading her...

RCD

 

[ken]

That Kenmore is neat to say the least. Better take that home!

What a shame the other W/D were scrapped. I hate to hear stories like that.

I'll bet no theres no rust on those vintage cars. Not like here in the rusty Eastern U.S. Id like to see them.

 

[redcarpetdrew]

Well...

I'll show a brief picture or so of them. I love Robert's picture feature!

The Country Squire. This was her's to take her kids and their friends to Lake Tahoe. I love the lines on it and it's still in the box (that's for you, Kevin...)

 

[redcarpetdrew]

The DeLuxe. I think this one is available too. Cute!

 

[redcarpetdrew]

Old ranch pickup, anyone?

 

[redcarpetdrew]

Last but definitely NOT least! Fury III!

This one was her uncles and was ordered from the dealer with what was the hottest engine available at the time. Nice restorable cars. She asked me if I knew anyone who would make a fair offer on them. I said I'd pass it on. Well, mission accomplished!

RCD

 

[whirlykenmore78]

THAT'S A HARDMOUNT!

I would have to believe that top loading hardmount washers are VERY rare! The principle of a suspensionless bolt down machine was mostly reserved for front loading commercial washer-extractors.
In fact, for decades the ONLY Hardmount machines have been commercial FL W-E's.
WK78

 

[turquoisedude]

Whoa!  What a haul!!  The washer HAS to be one of the first Kenmore automatics (or at least a really early one)!  Definitely worth saving.

 

The 'DeLuxe' car looks a heck of a lot like the 1951 Pontiac Silver Streak my father had when I was literally a 'babe in arms'.  

 

[ken]

The Deluxe is a 1950 Chevy Fleetline which, as you can see, had fastback styling. Introduced for model year 1942 that body style reached its peak in popularity in 1948 out selling the notchback body. With the restyled 1949 models the notchback became more popular. Last year for the Fleetline was 1952 and only available in two door form.

 

[danemodsandy]

The Country Squire:

Is a '68 - first year for side marker lights.

This one is sort of upper-MOL - it's a Squire, which meant LTD-level exterior trim, but you can tell from the interior shot it's not optioned up as far as some of them were. It also has the standard LTD wheel covers, not the extra-cost vaned "turbine" wheel covers that LTDs shared with Mark IIIs.

This one appears to be complete and very restorable. It will be a bit of a challenge in two respects: The woodgrained side panels and their woodgrained Fiberglas trim are on the expensive side to re-do. And that grille with its retractable headlights will be kind of picky to restore; the vacuum mechanism for the headlights is not too bad, but the "blackout" detail painting on the grille is going to take a lot of very patient, picky masking to get right.

Nice car.

 

[washman]

I'd jump all over that plymouth

What engine was in it? I'd guess 383 or 440?

 

[300c]

Engine in the 1969 Plymouth

It's a 383 2 barrel with 290 horsepower -- a strong, smooth running and reasonably economical engine. The base was a 318 V8 or 225 slant six. The 4 barrel 330 horse power 383 had an unsilenced air cleaner and was actually somewhat temperamental. The Super Commando 440 was the top engine at 375 horsepower. It had a dual snorkel air cleaner and a pie tin sticker on the air cleaner.

In case you didn't notice, I grew up with a dual obsession -- washers AND cars.

 

[redcarpetdrew]

We noticed!

I also noticed you don't post often but, with info like that, wish you would.

RCD

 

[swestoyz]

That Fury is a find these days. Quite the following.

Drew - is say the Kenmore is worth what your willing to pay for but, but I'd start with a crisp $100 and see where it goes.

What a day you had!

Ben

 

[redcarpetdrew]

The stuff I saw in that abandoned cottage! The original wood stove for it, a vintage toastmaster with the wording 'automatic rising' on it, a vintage Radio Flyer wagon that was her husbands when he was a kid, real metal roller skates (the kind you used a key to clamp it onto your shoe with metal wheels and bearings! and lots of other things among the expected clutter that goes with a building that's barely standing with missing windows and the like.

Just a cool little thing to find. I'll bet with a bit of searching, there is other treasures to discover. The machines already hauled away just make me sick. She remembered the pink set as machines that had consoles that lit up the room and her (grand?) kids, in school learning the alphabet, would say out loud the letter that each button had. ALPHABET Kenmores! Aarrgghh! I apparently just missed the hauled off machines by 6 months or so. Dang it! Why couldn't that KitchenAid stove have crapped out sooner!!! The coppertone machines were described as top of the line units with, again, lit consoles but the neatest agitators that went up and down. Wahh!

RCD [this post was last edited: 5/28/2014-21:10]

 

[ovrphil]

Yeah, too bad about missing the Alphabet Kenmore in pink, no less. As a Detroit motor city kid, growing up with cars, these weren't my favorites, but that Fury III was not uncommon on the Woodward Avenue circuit and around town. I like the Ford Squire Wagon - remember seeing many ads for those in magazines.

What an experience Drew! Enjoyed viewing this thread, thanks for taking some photos.

 

[norgeway]

Im With 300!!!

Ill take a Chrysler Product ANYTIME! I had a 68 Sport Fury with a 383 2 barrell, if you held it wide open it would change from 1st to 2nd at 48 miles an hour and from second to third at a little under 80!

 

[combo52]

Some Good Finds

Hi Andy, that KM bolt-down is about if not the first automatic washer Sears sold.
The suds-saver feature was standard on these and the earliest ones even used a separate brush-type electric motor for the suds return pump. It should be built between 1947 and 1949. I have a 1947 one that I have not restored yet.

Larry the 69 Plymouth was a very good year for that car. My brother Jeff and I took the 2 barrel 383 engine out of a 69 Chrysler T&C wagon and installed it in a 73 Imperial many years ago. We changed out a perfectly good 73 440 to increase the gas mileage of the Imperial and boosted the mileage from about 11 MPG to an easy 15 MPG without any loss of performance.