vintagehoover
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2006
- Messages
- 2,883
Bored this afternoon, I went into town for some window shopping. I'd say 'and some exercise', but I drove, so it doesn't really count!
I'd just about finished and was heading home, when I thought I'd stop by the market, just to see what was going on. The junk stall was there, as it always is on a Monday; usually, it is just total junk, but it's fun to browse through, just in case some elusive treasure lurks amongst it all.
And today, to my surprise, what should be standing in amongst the boxes full of old light fittings, board games and discarded gadgets but a red Hoover Turbopower. A bit late for my area of interest, but seeing as this stall rarely has vacuums, I looked closer. And to my surprise, it was a Turbopower Autoflex U2336! I had a feeling in the back of my mind they were supposed to be quite rare, but I wasn't
sure. Luckily at the trifling price they were asking for it, I could afford to give it the benefit of the doubt.
I had to carry it across town back to the carpark, braving the stares of the other shoppers - hoping they thought a) 'It's his mums, he's getting it fixed' or b) 'He's a penniless student who needs it for his dorm room', not c) 'What a nutcase! This is what New Labour is doing to young people nowadays...'
Anyway, I got it home and had the chance to look it over. Apart from a small section of the lower cord hook blank plate, which has snapped off, it's almost immaculate, and all-original. The cord rewind works. The 2-speed switch works. The headlamp works, and the Hoover air freshener is still in its compartment.
The motor runs quietly and smoothly, and all the cleaner needs is a new belt to make it run like new. There's barely a scuff on it - it looks like it's hardly been used. I guess the original owner used it until the belt went, then put it away somewhere and forgot about it. Good thing too, little else would have allowed this notoriously fragile machine to have survived all these years!
I gave Seamus a quick call to make sure I had done the right thing, going to the effort of picking it up and carting it home. He thinks I did
What a great find, and a most appropriate one for Hoover's 100th Anniversary!
Oh, for the sake of those who aren't familiar with this machine, like the 65/652's warping hood, this was another Hoover plastic 'issue' - something about this particular colour made the casing very, very brittle and fragile. The vast majority of this model of Turbopower fell to pieces in use very quickly, and most that you see around now have all the major componants replaced in black plastic.
I'd just about finished and was heading home, when I thought I'd stop by the market, just to see what was going on. The junk stall was there, as it always is on a Monday; usually, it is just total junk, but it's fun to browse through, just in case some elusive treasure lurks amongst it all.
And today, to my surprise, what should be standing in amongst the boxes full of old light fittings, board games and discarded gadgets but a red Hoover Turbopower. A bit late for my area of interest, but seeing as this stall rarely has vacuums, I looked closer. And to my surprise, it was a Turbopower Autoflex U2336! I had a feeling in the back of my mind they were supposed to be quite rare, but I wasn't
sure. Luckily at the trifling price they were asking for it, I could afford to give it the benefit of the doubt.
I had to carry it across town back to the carpark, braving the stares of the other shoppers - hoping they thought a) 'It's his mums, he's getting it fixed' or b) 'He's a penniless student who needs it for his dorm room', not c) 'What a nutcase! This is what New Labour is doing to young people nowadays...'
Anyway, I got it home and had the chance to look it over. Apart from a small section of the lower cord hook blank plate, which has snapped off, it's almost immaculate, and all-original. The cord rewind works. The 2-speed switch works. The headlamp works, and the Hoover air freshener is still in its compartment.
The motor runs quietly and smoothly, and all the cleaner needs is a new belt to make it run like new. There's barely a scuff on it - it looks like it's hardly been used. I guess the original owner used it until the belt went, then put it away somewhere and forgot about it. Good thing too, little else would have allowed this notoriously fragile machine to have survived all these years!
I gave Seamus a quick call to make sure I had done the right thing, going to the effort of picking it up and carting it home. He thinks I did
What a great find, and a most appropriate one for Hoover's 100th Anniversary!
Oh, for the sake of those who aren't familiar with this machine, like the 65/652's warping hood, this was another Hoover plastic 'issue' - something about this particular colour made the casing very, very brittle and fragile. The vast majority of this model of Turbopower fell to pieces in use very quickly, and most that you see around now have all the major componants replaced in black plastic.
