best 50s early 60s daily driver

[marty]

I am new to the site. I own a 1954 frigidaire imperial cyclamatic refrigerator. The love for my fridge has prompted me to begin selling off my modern appliances in exchange for vintage machines. I love the styles of the westinghouse slant front sets as well as most any of them in the 50s. That said i also want the cleanest wash as well as looks. I want to use the appliances, daily! Any advise as to what to look for as a daily driver would be appreciated, as well as what I can expect to spend. I have seen the pink maytags on ebay and would love to have that set, however I am sure that is a bit steep for that era machine...

I hope to share in the love and appreciation of appliances with you all....

Regards
Marty

 

[turquoisedude]

I would have to nominate a Frigidaire from the late 50's or early 60's!
The 1958 Frigidaire Custom Imperial washer is highly sought by the collectors around here and was billed as the 'Ultra-Clean'.
I have a 63 Frigidaire Deluxe model and I must admit it cleans really well!

 

[marty]

best 50s early 60s daily driver

Do you use it everyday? I want the best cleaning machine, with style....Im not concerned about collectibility, or how rare....just form and everyday function.... I also dont care about price so long as it is fair to both parties.

 

[mixfinder]

Maytag

Currently Maytag has a large number of available parts and many of them are interchangable with newer machines.  If you're handy there are nearly no transmission parts on a Kelvintator or Philco and its usually a seal or rubber based part that ends up being an issue.  What ever you buy, buy a second donor machine to begin harvesting parts from because most are NLA.

 

[kenmoreguy64]

A word of caution

Marty -

I agree with you concerning the overall desirability in using vintage appliances as everyday machines, aka 'Daily Drivers'. However, I feel compelled to suggest that you consider certain realities that are present in using 1950s or early 1960s machinery, in 2011.

- First, with the age of these machines comes their 'right' to break down. It should not be assumed that all 50-year old machines can be installed and used without issue for many years to come as you would expect from current appliances.

- Some designs from various manufacturers were improved upon in the later 1960s and 1970s, such that later machines were much better at delivering trouble-free performance.

- To have older equipment in use, especially when you depend on it, plan to have either backups, spare parts, a qualified service person, or best, all of those. I would strongly recommend that you be able to work on these machines should one have an issue while in service.

- Parts availability and service know-how varies brand to brand and design to design. Machines that were very common in production and service in the 50s and 60s are more likely to have support parts somewhere and a knowledgeable servicer than more obscure or low-volume designs.

Overall, from what I read in your notes above, I have a feeling you have somewhat unrealistic expectations, and you might want to double-think this to be sure you don't dig yourself an expensive hole that you can only get out of by re-purchasing newer appliances.

Gordon

 

[akronman]

50-60's machines

As wonderful and "period piece" as the Westy slants look, and some of those Philco's and Norges, keep in mind that Whirlpool/Kenmore, GE Filter Flo, and Maytag all sold well nationally, had few changes and lots of interchangeable parts manufactured for decades, and thus are usually easier to re-habilitate and keep running for years.
Whirplool and GE are usually considered quite good at cleaning operation, Maytag sort of dull but acceptable, but various machine's extra features, if you find a low-end versus high-end, highly featured with bells and whistles, can make a difference too.
I'm no pro at all, but with 5 older machines from 40's to 70's, if I had to keep only one vintage washer, it would be a GE FilterFlo. Great cleaning and turnover from the agitation, extensive rinses, very flexible from gentle to normal speeds, high to low water level, etc. I am no pro, but it's my favorite for daily use/flexibility of operation. Other folks here will for sure have other ideas and valid opinions.

 

[rickr]

Maytag or Whirlpool built belt drives are your best bet.

 

[launderess]

Whrilpool And Or Kenmore Get's My Vote

Mainly because of the wide parts distribution via Sears Parts Direct and other sources.

While not every "vintage" appliance's parts can be found, Sears and many other sources still turn up NIB parts decades after a model was discontinued.

 

[polkanut]

If you want some first-hand advice about having nothing but vintage appliances, I suggest you get in touch with Todd "Austinado16" who is a member of this site.

 

[akronman]

Pink Maytags

Those infamous $1900 Pink Maytags on Ebay were incredibly overpriced. Don't use them as a standard of reference at all. Think 1/2 that or even far less.

 

[hydralique]

You might want to review Combo52's posts too - he has an enormous amount of knowledge about various laundry machines through the years and which ones might still be suited for regular use.

 

Another big consideration is whether or not you want a matched set. Washers usually wore out more quickly than dryers and so it's common to see a middle aged washer paired with a much older dryer on Craigslist; older matched sets are not so easy to find. Is dryer fuel a concern for you? Some companies made a fair number of gas dryers (Kenmore, Whirlpool, Maytag, Norge), but others concentrated on electrics either primarily or exclusively. If your house is set up for both gas and electric then you're lucky but plenty of older houses are set up for only gas or only electric. Adding a gas line is usually pretty simple if you have a raised foundation, but adding a 230v dryer outlet isn't always easy depending on your service panel.

 

[goatfarmer]

I would also vote Maytag, From the mid 50's, up into the late 70's, they made a jillion or so machines, most of which were identical mechanically, easy to work on, most major parts are still available.

 

[northwesty]

Well, I vote for the Kenmore, as I own one from 1951 and it is my daily driver. I'm not so sure the GE would be so easy to work on, but mainly, if you want a matched set, I wasn't too thrilled with the GE dryer (1954) of mine. The Kenmore dryer works fine. The Kenmore design is one I have found alot of repair people today can work on since it's design was basically the same until the mid 80s.

 

[bajaespuma]

Brian,

That's a FABULOUS pair.

 

[polkanut]

Those '51 Kenmores definitely show their Whirlpool origins.

 

[northwesty]

Thanks

I'd say the Whirlpool vintage washer from this ear is the rarer set, I think I've noted one or two on this site, and not a matched pair yet.

One other note, I for a short time had a 53 maytag, with the wiring in the lid I wasn't too keen about, but the washers do beat all with the longevity of design as noted in another interesting thread here. But again, the dryers -- my inlaws had a halo-of-heat dryer and my father-in-law was contantly dealing with the heater element (I think it was around the door) so I guess I am a little ambivalent about those too.

 

[jetcone]

Those Kenmore's look

so eager to do laundry! Appliances had personality back in the day.

 

[norgeway]

Whirlpool-Kenmore!

For my money you can't beat them!

 

[tomturbomatic]

You will also have better results if you have more than one machine to spread the work load out a bit. If you will be willing to accept using a GE, WP or Maytag product from the 70s or early 80s, then, if you find something older, you will have classic daily drivers and something to use for super fun washes.

Congratulations on your new quest, but I have to tell you that a 1954 cyclamatic refrigerator is probably one of the simplest appliances made and you should not count on its daily use over the years being a benchmark for other far more complicated appliances that were made with less sophisticated materials than have been developed in the intervening decades like durable plastics to take the place of easily corroded pot metals in washing machine and dishwasher pumps and even tougher plastics to replace the rather fragile earlier ones like Bakelite.