challenge

[z30soulbrother]

hi folks thanks very much for the warm welcome, good to be on board! for my first thread i would very much like to tell you about a mystery vac in my collection and ask if anyone can throw any light on its origion as no matter how i try i cant find any info at all on it! i found it 10 trs ago on a street collection grabbed it took it home claened it up and got it working. its labelled as "challenge" and apart from its colour scheme it is a replica of the electrolux z65. its case is grey rather than z65s pink and its end caps , handle ,hose handle cover and filter cover are all burgundy. it came just with hose (ballbearing coupling) and severed cord on a still attached diagonal flat pin uk lux connecter. i went round junk shops and made a set of lux tools up for it inc spray jar and used it as my house vac for 10 years until its "quiet motor packed up earlier this year.its under tag says "made exclusively for challenge by electrolux" so i would guess it was a small shortlived uk company that started up and electrolux made their vacs for them, but no matter who i ask nobody has heard of it. it has "challenge" logos down each side where "electrolux" normally is and at pres i am stripping down an old lux "donor skeleton" z55 to get the pretty good con replacement motor for my challenge. have not got the hang of uploading the pics yet but will do best. can anyone help with the story behind this vac? i do remember as a child about 3 families in our street had "trident" yyellow and white cylinders these mimmicked electolux too. connecter for cord etc but more modern twist and turn hose coupling instead of ballbearing any clues?

 

[petek]

Is it possible it was a department store brand name that Challenge? In the US and Canada there are/were often as not regional department stores offering appliances under their own brand name that folks living elsewhere probably never heard of unlike the national chains like Sears Kenmore

 

[z30soulbrother]

challenge

thanks for that my friend i will chase up that idea and will let you know
si

 

[74simon]

Hi Simon,

Welcome to Vacuumland!

'Challenge' was a brand name used by the mail order catalogue Great Universal.

I've seen Hoover vacuums built for Challenge, which came in exclusive colours, but I've never seen or heard of a Challenge Electrolux! It must be quite a rarity. Any chance of a picture of it?

Si

 

[z30soulbrother]

challenge by electrolux

hi this a picture of my challenge. dont know if i have the size right sorry!

 

[z30soulbrother]

challenge underside

challenge underside

 

[z30soulbrother]

challenge hose

challenge hose

 

[z30soulbrother]

challenge blower end

challenge blower end

what do you think? late 50s early 60s?

 

[charles~richard]

Well, that clearly is an Electrolux but it's not one of the American models - it's European. It is VERY interesting, as this is the FIRST instance I have EVER seen of an Electrolux bearing a "house brand."

p.s. welcome to our madcap world!

 

[74simon]

Hi Simon,

Well, the standard Electrolux 65 was tested by Which? magazine in April 1960 and March 1966, but by late 1967 it had been replaced by the Electrolux 80 (which is in a spring/summer 1968 catalogue I have).

I wasn't sure if your Challenge was based on the 65 or 80, but I noticed that they have different motor end caps, and yours corresponds to the 65. Hope this gives you an idea of its age. Is there a model number on the rating plate? Either way you have a real rarity there, no mistake!

Trident brand cleaners were apparently sold door-to-door - I'm sure someone else on here or the Hooverland yahoo! group will know more (I've put a link to it below), as that's where I leart that particular nugget.

Here's a photo of my 'Challenge' cleaner, a 1977 Hoover Junior. You can just see the Challenge script to the right of the Hoover badge on the front cover. Sorry the picture is a bit lousy, it's pretty old! Again, it was made exclusively for Great Universal Stores (GUS) catalogue.

Si

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hooverland08808/

 

[chestermikeuk]

Challenge or Lux

Hi Simon, welcome to the club, now thats a cleaner to have in your collection, along with any special housebrands like Si`s Hoover etc, definately like a Lux 65, and the hose looks like new as well,

Does it have the shake out cloth bag or paper inserts??

Cheers, Mike

 

[z30soulbrother]

challenge

hi mike
bro you are already one of my heroes! maybe your lux stairs display has something to do with it! Ive been hoping you would get in touch! when i found challenge it just had the cloth bag (rammed to the brim!) but you can see by the end cap inside its the 1 designed to take the disc adapter for disposable paper liner like normal z65. the hose was attached when i got it . it looks like the origional given the colour. but honestly Mike i just have not been able to find anything out about it in 10 yrs until simon told me about the Great Universal having Challenge as there brand name for there vacs. ( he is another of my idols!) I am determined by hook or by crook to get to the bottom of this mystery, you find exactly how many of this "model" were made. i am tempted to go and knock on the door of the house whos skip i took it off but am scared theyll pick up on its rarity by me investigating and fight me for it back. pity, i bet theyve still got attachments to it in junk boxes in the shed etc. im guessing we are going back to circa 1960 for its manufacture as its based on z65?
well Mike, i grew up with my parents 1950/51 z55. it had the ittalic logos on the sides like your 55 but it had what seemed to be the older type rug nozzle like the 25 etc. Its tubes were the two lightweight metal ones not the heavier shinier ones. apparently when they first started using their 55 the hose split near the handle. very unusual i know now, so they wrote off and complained and asked for a replacement. in the meanime Dad somehow fixed the origional kept it as a spare. when the replacement came it was turquoise blue and more flexible. the fixed origional was rolled up and thrown in the back of the understairs cupboard and when mom came to use it years later when she blocked the blue 1 .... guess what? it was too stiff to use! completely seized!
anyway Mike just before i go, to once again pick at your lux expertise, could you possibly throw any light on a cleaner that about 3 of my childhood neighbours in our street had. late 60s into the 70s i think. seemed to be replica of lux z80 in yellow with white end caps labelled Trident? si says hes sure they were door to door sales but to ask around.
cheers Mike nice to chat to you mate
si

 

[z30soulbrother]

challenge info

hi si
thanks very much for that info about my challenge. at least now i have a bit of a lead to follow up!its all very exciting and youve all been very welcoming. i just know im going to have loads of fun and gain some great friends in you all. si i have been looking at your material for a while now on the net. interestlng stuff mate. also cheers for putting me on the right track for the trident search! have seen a mension of it but no more than that as yet. exciting stuff ay?
cheers mate take care

si

 

[ian88]

Just realised you're from the West Midlands mate, i'm in nasty old Nuneaton myself, lol.

I've got some collection threads around here somewhere, try and track them down lol.

Ian

 

[tommymilan]

isn't it similar to electrolux model z 65?Identical I'd say...
tommy

 

[z30soulbrother]

challenge/ lux z65

absolutely, Tom, identical except for the colour, thats a lovely machine by the way. like i say all i had ahen i found challenge was the machine itself, hose attached, and a foot of cord still in the connecter severed off and kept , obviosly. i am guessing the tools were colour coordinated too. but shall probably never know now. i had a 65 once but it got stolen. i bought it in a junk shop 5pounds in a plastic bag with all its tools . hardly used. when i switchded on you could smell that old air freshener you used to be able to buy for lux filters.(my mom used to buy it when i was little for our 55) also my aunt had a 65. our z65s over here in uk had 2 single pipes with the vertical slots round the top as opposed to your lovely telescopic 1, and filter covers were cream the same as motor end cap hose had the colour coordinated handle cover on metal handle (like my challenge) great isnt it?
speak to you soon Tommy take care mate
si

 

[ian88]

I'm not being funny collectors..but, who steals an old vacuum cleaner?

Either spite or desperation was in play it seems, hardly noble traits ;p

Ian

 

[z30soulbrother]

stolen vac

yea Ian

the vac in question was taken with a load of other stuff from my shed while i was on holiday years ago. i think i know who did it. 1 of those things. i wasnt really into collecting back then although now it upsets me to think about it.
si

 

[ian88]

Dare I say it but I actually prefer the Challenges color scheme not that the Electrolux is nasty looking at all, I had one..was useless to me though, no hose/cord etc.

Ian