The Much Anticipated New Kirby!!!

[eurekastar]

At a secret West Texas location, know only by a small inner circle, Kirby engineers and designers have been quietly working on the next new Kirby. It's current name is the Retro-vac. The lead engineer must apologize for his poor photography skills. After all, this is a "sneak peak". The boys in marketing will be posting the glamor shots at a later date.

 

[eurekastar]

The Engineering

In order to create the new Retro-vac, Kirby engineers drew upon some tried and true designs from years past. The durable 4/5 amp motor from the D50/80 era was pressed back into service for this newest model.

 

[eurekastar]

Em-Tor and Bag Assembly

Also back in production is the Em-Tor from the Heritage line. With HEPA rated dust bags, filtration is greatly improvement over the 500 series. [this post was last edited: 7/28/2014-21:08]

 

[eurekastar]

Retro Styling

The styling department drew its aesthetic cues from the smart sensibility of the 500 series, and the much loved color scheme of the Tradition. The Chief Engineer was in such a hurry to rush this pre-production machine out for the vacuum press to see that he forgot to wipe it down for finger prints. The power switch also seems to be defective. Engineers are waiting for the parts supplier to send out a new one.

 

[super-sweeper]

Looks beautiful!

When can i expect it at my local Kirby center? 

 

[vintagevaclover]

I think I saw this one on eBay not to long ago lol

 

[kloveland]

Ha! That's funny. Some vac shops did use bo-jack parts to try and sell older models in the current colors of the time. Others more experienced than myself will know more about this. Like the one shown in the auction. Your creation looks great Bill!

 

[eurekastar]

super-sweeper

As soon as engineering can fix the issue with the power switch, it will be ready for production -- hopefully by the end of the week! I forgot to mention that the guys in engineering utilized the acclaimed four row brush roll in this pre-production vacuum. Discussions are underway with CWP to put the four row brush roll back into production.

 

[DesertTortoise]

I'm not a Kirby guy but I do appreciate thoughtful "restifications", restoring old iron with some well thought out modern upgrades. I do this to cars and motorcycles, so seeing this line of thought applied to a high quality but older vacuum strongly appeals to me. Very nice.

 

[stricklybojack]

.

Like he (dt) said...

 

[super-sweeper]

I'll reserve mine now! If only this model had the coin slot! 

 

[DesertTortoise]

It pains me to admit it, it really does, but that is a Kirby I would proudly own. Not an ounce of excess anywhere. Clean, high quality and minimalist, just what you need and nothing more. When will examples be available for customer delivery? What, you think I'm joking? I am starting to dig that vacuum.

 

[kevin]

Very cool--I wonder if a revised Handi-Butler will be an option?

 

[marks_here]

Oh how cool

I will have to take this to my local Kirby branch office & let him get a load of the pics since he seems to be up with all the new things & see what he thinks. This should be fun!

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Seeing pictures like this still make me think Kirby could very well have had a 13" nozzle option for models Classic 1CR to Tradition 3CB.

~Ben

 

[eurekastar]

Kenny

Bojack trim kits and other parts are still available from a couple of different sellers. a-1vacuum is one. It's hard to tell exactly what you're getting from site descriptions, so one might have to call and ask questions.

http://www.a-1vacuum.com/

 

[whirlpolf]

I feel tricked (or let's say being pulled my leg)

While the refurbishing job might be tremendous and marvelous overall (nice new blue trims and fantastic polishing job!), I still feel like reading these typical auto-generated Google listings:

"search = John Doe"

result:
"Looking for "John Doe"? Find thousands of awesome offers concerning "John Doe"!" (link goes to some lame ebay offerings).

Nice job, lame headline.
Sorry, not my thing: As there is no way for me of knowing "who and who not" (of you all over there, transatlantic vacuum brothers).
;-(

Misleading.

 

[kirbylux77]

Eurekastar, great job you did on your Kirby! I personally would have preferred to do one in red, but your blue Kirby looks very classy . I do hope they resurrect the 500 series, tweak it & use it as the basis for the next Kirby. Much easier to push & carry than the G Series & Classic/Tradition/Heritage series, & no transmission to break down either. All it would need is a more powerful motor, a 4 row brushroll, & find a way to incorporate the newest Mini Emtor in the design & it would be the ultimate Kirby!

Rob

 

[kirby519]

I can think of many people that would love to have a kirby like that one.

The 500 series and dual sanitronics were the right size machines. Not to heavy compaired with todays. Those machines worked very well. With todays higher amp motors, 4 row aggitator and the heritage II mini emptor I would by a new Kirby.

I think Kirby is missing alot of sales by not offering a machine based on that design. You will always have the argument about how difficult it is to change attachaments. But you could sell a machine that didn't weigh a half ton.

Kirby's this is it or nothing approach is costing them in some ways. If there were a couple of models available they could still make great sales. A 500/dual sanitronic model. Classic/Tradition model and a G series model would make a great many people happy customers.