come to think of it,Whirlpool didn't offer an electronic model when they switched to dd. I could be wrong but I think they came out with the electronic catalyst after sears did.Anyone know for sure?
These are from the early to mid 80's - right before the DD changeover. I had an electronic WP washer from 1980 that had the square button pad, then came the buttons all in a row a year or two later (they offered both keypad styles for a while) but this machine has the later style panel design that carried over into the full-size machines.
As I recall, Whirlpool did not have an electronic-control direct-drive washer during the initial changeover to that design, nor did they have one in the lineup for a number of years after. Kenmore did, and the initial offering of KitchenAid washers did include a TOL electronic model. If I am not mistaken, the Catalyst was Whirlpool's first electronic direct-drive machine.