Epic 6000/6500
I had a gray 6500 that was the daily driver and also used by the house keeper for many years. I bought the machine from a Kirby dealer for about $50, but the motor needed to be rebuilt because its bearings were shot. I rebuilt the motor before putting it into use and it never gave me any trouble at all. I have an Epic 6000 that I pulled out of the trash late one night a few years back. I looked it over the next morning to discover the only problem was its hose was clogged. I put a new headlight bulb and genuine Lux brush roll in it and it works wonderful.
The plastic wands on the 6500 were ok, but they were very clumsy and heavy for most tasks. I prefer the older style that my 6000 has which combines the best of both worlds, a nice very light weight canister with the traditional Lux power nozzle set up with the additional steel tubes for bare/above floor cleaing.
As for the colors of these models, the 6000 was only blue and beige. The 6500 started out in the same blue and beige color scheme, then changed to all grey with gold accents, then around 1998 changed to white with gray trim and red accents.
