Porcelain tops
Patrick,
The machines being discussed here did indeed have porcelain tops.
There were a number of 500s in the 60s, and many in the 80s that did not have porcelain tops, but these models for 1970 did. Kenmores were pretty feature laden during the first half of the 1970s, so 500s got porcelain. There was a 400 model for 1970 which looked very much like these, with the same panel design, etc that did not have a porcelain top or lid.
I never liked that Kenmore made so many models with painted tops. They were cheap and not competitive with GE and Maytag, in my opinion. In 1979 even an 80 series had a painted top.
Gordon
Patrick,
The machines being discussed here did indeed have porcelain tops.
There were a number of 500s in the 60s, and many in the 80s that did not have porcelain tops, but these models for 1970 did. Kenmores were pretty feature laden during the first half of the 1970s, so 500s got porcelain. There was a 400 model for 1970 which looked very much like these, with the same panel design, etc that did not have a porcelain top or lid.
I never liked that Kenmore made so many models with painted tops. They were cheap and not competitive with GE and Maytag, in my opinion. In 1979 even an 80 series had a painted top.
Gordon