Turbo500, I am not doubting your manuals. What manuals are these exactly? But I can tell you these cleaners were on sale in 1994. I cannot prove it, so I will understand if you choose to not believe what I am about to tell you. Either way, I will think no less of you as it is but a detail. My mother was born on 23rd November 1914. For her 80th birthday I bought her a new Matsui colour television set from Currys. Whilst I was there I took a good look around the store as I didn't get chance to go there often. What I immediately noticed was the new Panasonic upright. It's shape was different from anything they had built so far. What concerned me was that it was on sale for £89.99, as I had recently bought three older style Panasonic electronic models from my supplier. They had been on a promotional deal and were a beautiful deep green colour. I intended to let them go for £109.99, or maybe £99.99 at a push, as there was some mark-up to be made. Upon seeing the new Panasonic in Currys I didn't think I would be able to sell them now that a new model was on sale for that price.
As it was, I managed to clear two of them for about £95 just before the Christmas and took the display model home to my mother. I then proceeded to order the new Panasonic cleaners as the replacement during 1995 and the time which followed.
The issues with the original Panasonic 40 series were many. There were at least three types of motor I can think of, one was 600watt, the most common 650watt, and latterly one which was 700watt. Those 650watt motors were prone to getting fluff stuck in the vanes of the fan, and this seriously reduced suction power. Very early models used to lose their edge brushes on the roller. All models were prone to belt slippage and often one would see a cleaner with a hole in the side where the belt had slipped off slightly and worn right through the cleaning head. The rear wheel axle was not a good fit and in every example I came across the wheels had worn further and further into the main body of the cleaner. Sometimes the wheels went right through. However, I still maintain they were relatively well built cleaners.
