Need some info please!

[air-waycharlie]

Can anyone provide any information about this vac? I'm putting it on the, "Off Topic", forum too.

A friend of mine owns a vac shop in Denver, NC, just outside of Charlotte and somehow he got this and can not find any information about it.

We do know it was made in Germany or for the German market as all the writing on the spec plate and rug nozzle is in German. If anyone has info, please post it and I will make sure it gets to him.

Thanks!
Charlie

 

[air-waycharlie]

Another view

The full length view.

 

[vacman117]

That is the very first Oreck I believe. A friend of mine has one. Somewhere dating from the mid 60's I believe. Hope that helps a little bit.

 

[lux1521]

I think thats an early version of the Oreck 4000. I think the later ones had the CVR dropped from the name. I have a spare NOS bag sitting around for one, but don't own one myself. The bag I have is says XL4000, and is of the newer (but still old) grey with little holes in it.

 

[vinvac]

Charlie,

If you look through the conventions pictures on the forum, you will notice that Scott MacMillin brought that very same machine to the conventio. I am sure he knew the complete history.

Morgan

 

[ibaisaic]

This model is almost identical to the Macdonald electric cleaner that we had in the UK in the 70's.

The UK version was orange, but apart from that, it looks the same. I especially remember the white on/off switch and the way the bag inflated. I also remember the lovely smell of the air passing through the bag when it was new.

My Dad brought the Macdonald home one day and I remember it had to be assembled. I don't think it lasted long in a house with four dogs and four messy boys.

Click on the link for a Dyson Ball ad that briefly shows the Macdonald. It's about 9 seconds in.

 

[ohio_tuec]

You are correct Roger, it is a MacDonald Electric. When I went to the Oreck factory, Tom Oreck (David's son and now CEO of the company) told me that MacDonald electric started making vacuums for Oreck around 1962 when they took over Whirlpool's vacuum cleaner division. By the mid '60's, it was renamed XL-4000, and they made a commercial version called the XL-4300 with an orange base. By the late '70's, Oreck turned to Bissell to manufacture their uprights. In 1997, Oreck purchased the Regina plant in Biloxi, Miss., and finally started producing the vacuums in-house. These 4000 series use the same bags as the Whirlpool predecessors. Sadly, Oreck chose to discontinue the bags about 3-4 years ago.

 

[ozhoover]

That same machine was also sold in Australia during the 70's under the PYE brand name, it came in red, yellow and blue. I can remember seeing them as a kid when my mum would take us to Myer the big department store in Melbourne.

They where the last of the PYE floorcare line up in OZ before they where taken over by Philips...

There was one on ebay in OZ a few months back but in really poor condition...

Mark