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This is a really cool item - no pun intended. A real, unrestored, survivor 10 cent 50s Vendo coke machine! This is the model 83, which means it holds 83 bottles of Coke. 6 oz bottles, that is. It's a similar design to the previous very successful Vendo 39 that I believe came out originally about 10 years earlier and dominated the market for over a decade. It has the same type of vending mechanism - a honeycomb like drum that winds up with gravity and rotates one position every time a bottle is vended, and exposes a single hole opening behind the cute little door where you would pull out your little bottle of coke. Pretty ingenious really. The only electricity the machine needed was to run the compressor for refrigeration.
I have the key to the main loading door / compressor area. But I do not have the key to the coin mech / coin box area. I guess that will need to be ordered or drilled out and replaced.
Believe it or not, if you watch the video above you will be surprised to see that I plugged this thing in and the compressor actually still works and it gets cold. I was absolutely blown away because I thought it was non-working when I bought it. Well, it probably isn't fully working like maybe the coin mech -I don't know because I didn't even think to try dropping a dime in it. and there are two loose wires down by the compressor that I have no idea what they go to.
But it is cooling and the vending mech appears to be working, so should be restorable.
But let's be honest - does it really need to be restored to fully working? Is anyone out there really planning to buy this, get it fully working, and operate it as a 6 oz coke bottle vending machine? can you even get those bottles anymore? This is to put in a rec room, bar, museum, or movie set to just look awesome which it already does perfectly.
I have to say that I really love the look of these old 40s to 50s coke machines. The gorgeous sports car red with the embossed white coca-cola logo on the top is the epitome of iconic. If I had the right situation at home I would absolutely want this in my home just for decoration. Even my wife, when I told her I was planning to sell this, seemed shocked and hesitant. That is rare, let me tell you. She is a major downsizer and wants to get rid of almost everything. You have to watch your possessions when she is around because they will end up at goodwill if you take your eyes off them. So the fact that she wanted to keep this speaks volumes. But what she doesn't know that I do, is that I have a few more old coke machines hidden away deep in the bowels of one of the warehouses, so I don't feel that I need to keep this one. But don't tell her or THEY will end up at Goodwill.
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