Frigidaire Range

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The voltage ratings on the name plate indicate that there are components that run on 115 or 120 like the light, the clock and maybe something else like a rotisserie motor if the range had one, that run on 115 or 120 as well as components like the heating elements that operate on 240. Another way of looking at it is that it would be the world's largest slow cooker on 120. It sure looks well cared for.

Actually, the space below the small oven was storage for the Radiant Wall Broiler pan.

I would live to visit that store.
 
I don't! It's a 1966 Custom Imperial. RCIG-75K, one of the few Frigidaire 40" free-standing ranges with two windows. The next year, the 40" Custom Imperial had the Electri-Clean oven that was introduced two years before on the 30" models and because of that feature, didn't have windows (Frigidaire was late at indroducing self-cleaning models with windows in the mid-1970s). 

 

There's another one shown for sale in this thread: 

 

http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?61868_1~1
 

And the pictures from the Craigslist ad:

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Looking at that control panel, it does not appear to have a meat thermometer unless it was radically redisigned into a round dial. I think it was at this time that Frigidaire offered something that might have been called TenderMatic that was supposed to be able to slow roast cuts of meat that normally had to be braised, but in CU's tests the results were dry and disappointing.

1966 must have been a year of refining for GM. I'm thinking of the difference between the wide, first year wall-to-wall tail lights on the 65 Electra 225 and the narrower treatment that feature got in 66.
 
Tom, as you said, Frigidaire introduced the "Tender-Matic" feature instead of the meat thermometer in the 1965 Flair and free-standing ranges and it continued to offer it for 1966-67 while the meat thermometer remained in the built-in ovens. I have that Tender-Matic feature on my newly acquired 1967 Custom Imperial range and I haven't tried it yet! I just got the instructions on how to set it... I have to admit that I'm more curious to see how it works than about how well it works!

 

Right now, I'm working at fixing a 1960 Custom Imperial 30" range that I got for free locally. Strangely, the 30" model lost the meat thermometer in 1960 . In 1961, the feature was back but the "broiler grill" (adjustable broiler) was missing and the broil light was now gone (but that was still there for a few more years on the 40" model). In 1962, the broiler grill was back but the oven now had a regular door and the burner controls were now regular round dials instead of the "radio dials" which stayed for one more year on the 40" models. 

 

As for 1965 vs 1966 control panels, the main differences between both years was changes of colors on the control panels. They got taller for 1967 with a redesigned clock and relocated burner controls.

 

Here's a timeline of 1964 to 1970 Frigidaire 40" Custom Imperial ranges. The control panels got taller in 1967 and again in 1969. 

 

Pictures

#1-2 showing a 1964 RCIG-75-64 (has a meat thermometer)

#3-4 showing a 1965 RCIG-75J (first year for the "Tender-Matic" and the "Meal Minder" features.

#5-7 are from a 1966 RCIG-75K (the only year for two windows in the oven doors of the regular free standing range)

#8 is a 1967 RCIE-75L (first year for the Electri-Clean version of the 40" free standing ranges, taller control panel)

#9-10 are from a 1968 RCIE-75N, that year, the "Tender-Matic" was gone and the self-cleaning system was simplified. 

#11-16 are from 1969-70 RCIE-75P which got taller control panels again. 

 

 

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As for the same period Buick taillights...

Tom, since that's another thing that interests me...

 

 I used to have a '65 Electra 225 Custom hardtop coupe which did have the taller, almost full width taillights (with the fuel filler door at the center that was painted red to match but it wasn't lit).

While I think the styling was somewhat less interesting on the 1966, I do prefer the true full width taillights from that year and I also like the 1967 Electra full width taillights that were even thinner than in 1966. 

Other full size Buick models followed a similar pattern in 1965-67 as their taillights got larger but the lenses or the decorative trim between and around them got thinner each of these years (I currently have a 1965 Wildcat and used to have a 1967). 

 

The pictures show a 1965 Electra, my 1965 Wildcat, a 1966 Electra, a 1966 Wildcat, a 1967 Electra and a 1967 Wildcat. 

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Love those old "Land Yachts".

 

Love the Older Buicks. As a matter of fact I love all cars from 1972 back.  I never liked any of the cars from 1973 when they started to put those I called them "Park Bench" bumpers on cars.

 

When and if I get to Canada Phil, I would love a ride in your Wildcat.

 

Wouldn't it have been something if you bought a Riviera, Electra or a Wildcat you got a Free TOL Frigidaire Range.
 
Reply#12- When design meant something

Your photos are just a bittersweet reminder of what we used to see cruising up and down our roads in Michigan in the 60's. One weekend night, a friend's friend "borrowed" his parent's(who were gone somewhere) Electra 225 to cruise Woodward Ave. With four guys chipping in for gas, which was $0.25-27/gallon for regular and more for this deuce and a quarter, the ride up and down the corridor was unforgettable. Hauled butt for a big vehicle with four wild passengers.
 
Tim, the turquoise one is the last french-door model from 1961. RCI-39-61

Eddie, did you ever try the Tender-Matic feature on your 1965 Custom Deluxe?

Roger, there are no GM Frigidaire double ovens (built-in or free-standing) that are both self-cleaning. The small oven does have removable panels that can be cleaned in the larger oven but I have never had one to try that!
 
I'm trying the Tender-Matic feature on my range tonight... I didn't follow the instructions exactly, I guess I'll get something very dry tomorrow! Still I like to see the oven thermostat turning itself on by itself and the temperature going up to 325 and then down to 150°. I don't understand exactly how it works and how the settings change the cooking times but with the Tender-Matic control at 5 and the Meal Minder control at 2, it took about 50 minutes before the Meal Minder went to Manual and the temperature dropped from 325° to 150° where it should stay overnight...

 

Here's a small video showing the thermostat knob slowly moving up...

 
Oh wow! You could really gaslight someone with that or get them to give up drinking if they saw that dial moving by itself. Leave it to Frigidaire to have something like that. That is even spookier than the rapid reset drive on my KDS14. After Rinse/Hold and the short dry on Utility/Utensil, the little chain-drive motor turns the timer dial back to where it needs to be to start a new cycle.

The most beautiful car my father ever owned was the 1963 Wildcat. I did practice driving in it with my learner's permit and when he traded it in for the 1966, they allowed me to keep one key for it which I still have in the Hix Green Buick little leather key holder.
 
Video

That's simply cool. It would be interesting to know how much the buyers used these features, if they liked them in the long run, learned to use them as designed...etc. Good video, PhilR, thanks for posting.

You and Tom with your Buicks. It's hard to look at all the plastic in cars today, but then you do have some airbags today...in lieu of the cool dashboards and real metal.

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Tom, I really like the gadgets like rapid-advance timers (and Jon gave me his former KDS 14, one of my favorite dishwashers!), old TVs with motorized controls, radios with automatic tuning etc.

I do have an AM wonderbar signal-seeking radio that I kept from my 1965 Electra but I never installed it in my 1965 Wildcat as my Wildcat has an AM-FM (you couldn't get the signal-seeking AM-FM) and there's nothing really interesting to listen to on the AM band here anymore!

 

Phil, the dashboard picture you posted shows a 1964 Wildcat (very similar to the 1963), it has interesting features like the Guide-Matic headlight dimmer and Buick's early style "Electro-Cruise" cruise control system which was completely different from the system that Cadillac and Oldsmobile used. This system was controlled by the speedometer itself and used the pointer that was usually used for the "Speed Alert" buzzer to set the speed, if you press on the setting knob, you can accelerate from a stop to the set speed without touching the accelerator, once the car reaches the set speed, the "Cruise" light comes on and the system maintains the speed. I have this feature in both my 1965 Wildcat and 1967 Riviera and it still works well. Cruise controls are among the other gadgets that I really like! And honestly, I couldn't live without cruise control as long distance driving without that is challenging for me!      

 

The steering wheel isn't original, this steering wheel was offered in the Riviera and in the 1966 Wildcat only. And the 1966 Wildcat didn't have that emblem but a Buick emblem. I guess most of these steering wheels came from Rivieras and those had a Riviera emblem so now we see these steering wheels in Wildcats with a Wildcat emblem. 
 
PhilR - you know, I was skeptical about that steering wheel. My car knowledge has waned badly, so it's fun
to hear what you know and be reminded or learn the first time around. I remember this kind of speed control, but I can't recall what car my dad owned that worked the same way. It may be my dad's friends, as they bought the Olds and Buicks(which I liked better than the clunky old Ford products; my dad worked for Ford, so end of explanation.

I've been gadget oriented since age 12, as I can remember. Not that this has anything to do with this thread, but since you mentioned the word, "gadget", I always have a personal argument about using that word to define some of the tools that help us live or work better. It might be a gadget to Webster's Dictionary, but a gadget to me has a whole lot of fluff. Like…a Chia Pet is a gadget.
Cruise Control is a functional complimentary tool that allows you to drive in comfort for long distances, and that one you have on both cars work from the mechanical positioning of the speedo gears(we see a pointer, but it's gears, right?).

Ok, I can't stand it - I need to buy a Wildcat. When the cows come in from the moon pasture.

Phil
 
Parts for a Frigidaire Custom Imperial range

I am looking for a door hinge and a oven seal for our Frigidaire GM Custom Imperial range. I think that it is a 1969 or 1970. The model number is RCIE-75P. I would be extremely grateful for any suggestions on a source for parts.
Thank you

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