Actually Im a big fan of the old Vax tubs. I had a blue one passed to me from my parents; a Powa 1400. Had it for about 15 odd years until I gave it to a local shop who were susceptible to floods. It was a good all rounder and reminded me much of the old Shop Vacs you get in the U.S I'd never say they were good looking but more practical looking than anything else. The old 101 (before the 121) was very much a door-to-door sales machine before they arrived in the stores and a lot of brands tried to copy Vax; in fact I think Hoover UK were rapped over the knuckles with their advertising of their similar 3 in 1 tub canister as being the first to offer the shampoo tools when Vax had been doing it well beforehand.
They've since been produced in Australia now as opposed to the UK though the UK ones in the 1990s were solid and much heavier than the present ones you can buy now = and most models now don't come with the rather helpful variable suction control dial.
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