The Mean Green Clean Machine

Presenting the ZB89, or Z89, or 89E, or, as far as I'm concerned, 89. Made in Canada by Electrolux Canada, this model was the top-of-the-line offering between 1967-73. I was born during its run, so it was utterly ubiquitous when I was young. I saw it everywhere...schools, stores, hospitals, homes, etc.

I have four of these, two of which are strictly for parts, and I have the owner's manual tucked away somewhere. Here is a full-on shot of the two machines with all the standard attachments, attachment caddy, electric hose, standard hose, hose cord, telescopic wand, and three different power nozzles. The model on the left also has the original plug with bulb stopper.

There isn't a great deal (at least in the motor unit) to distinguish the 89 from the 88, and in fact I think the 88 looks much better, but the accoutrements offered with the 89 set it above and beyond anything before it:

1. Electric hose: this was the first Electrolux with a hose with embedded wiring, totally eliminating the cord clipped to the exterior of the hose, and vastly improving its usability. The hose shown is actually not the first one that came with the 89; I believe the first had the same metal ball bearing end as the standard hoses, and a different weave pattern, as well as a dark green pistol grip, at least on some of them. As far as I know, the electric hose was first introduced in 1968.

Electric hose. Of course, the addition of the pigtail cord on the machine end means it can't swivel, but, what can you do? The fact that the business end swivels is pretty cool, for the late 60's.

The machine end still had a pigtail cord that plugged into the handle, which meant that this hose could be used with any of the 80 series machines. All that was needed was a new handle with a plug in it, and, in fact, I saw more than a few 83s, 86s, and 88s with the new (mismatched) green electric hose (one of my grandparents' 86 models had one). For example, if you owned an 88 (which never had an electric hose in matching red) and wanted to upgrade to the new electric hose, electric telescopic wand, and Canadian-made power nozzle, your cleaning ensemble might have looked something like this:

Not very attractive when everything is put together, is it?

When this hose became standard with the 89, around 1972 (?), the model became known as '89E' to distinguish it from earlier ones.

Serial number plate with "89E" notation:

Previous location of serial number (inside of bag door):

2. Electric, swivel, direct connect handle with trigger switch (see above picture of hose): this was, and still is, a revolutionary development. It's the direct precursor to the Epic style hose with the switch, and the Style R hoses with full power controls. I believe the contemporary US model 1205 featured this handle, as well as the telescopic wand, but they didn't catch on the US.

3. Electric, direct connect telescopic wand: the precursor to the vastly inferior sheath. It eliminated the wiring running down the outside of the wand, or the need to have separate power nozzle and accessory wands, and could be collapsed for storage. There was a red electric telescopic wand to match the red 80 series machines, but I'm not sure if this came first, or was a 'retrofit' after the green one.

Electric telescopic wand with power nozzles (PN II, III, and IV). The only real drawback to this wand is that the upper plastic part isn't reinforced; its simply a thin layer of plastic.

I can't understand why Electrolux eventually did away with items 2 and 3, which were infinitely more progressive, modern, and usable than what followed (and what is still used today on the Lux Classic). I also don't understand why they waited another decade to feature power controls on the hose handle.

The only other changes I can think of are these, and these are not necessarily revolutionary; merely different:

1. Plastic attachment caddy: more durable, certainly, than the prior cardboard. I'm not sure when this was introduced, but there was a cardboard caddy early in the run. There was also a dark green version of this. The attachments were largely the same, except for the fact that they changed from a spring clip to latch fittings, and the dusting brush, floor brush, and the elbow of the carpet nozzle were now made of plastic instead of metal.

2. The power nozzle (see above picture of power nozzles): the first 89 power nozzle was a copy of the American PN I (called 'PN II'), but the PN III (the only Electrolux PN to feature a brush roll height adjustment switch) and IV were totally Canadian. The PN III was the first to be able to stand upright. There was a power nozzle with the detachable elbow for the red 80 series machines, but I'm not sure if this came before the green ones or not.

3. The "dual-purpose" nozzle, for carpets and floors (see large tool on left in above picture). Kind of superfluous in view of the inclusion of the power nozzle, carpet nozzle, and floor brush.

4. The shag carpet nozzle. As far as I know, this was the first such nozzle on an Electrolux.

Standard (non-electric) hose. This must have been the first ever pistol grip handle the company made. The red 80 series machines also had a hose with this handle.

Side logo:

Front cover. Elux-o-matic!

Ready to do the carpet, with the PN II:

Floors:

(I should point out that I never use these hoses, wands, attachments, or power nozzles...they're strictly for "set completion" purposes. The hoses are especially useless, as are all of the other Electrolux braided hoses).

When I do use the 89, it looks like this:

The 89 is, leaving out the above refinements, every bit as quiet, powerful, and efficient as the 88 and other 80 series machines. The 88, however, as noted above, is considerably better looking, but you may disagree if you like dark green. Speaking of looks, there were minor cosmetic changes to the 89 over the years, as can be seen in the pictures. Some had the bare aluminum or chrome handle trim; on others, this was painted the same green as the body of the machine. There were two different styles of rear wheels as well.

Even though the 89 is not my favorite Electrolux, it does represent what Electrolux "is" to me in many ways, due to its prevalence when I was younger. I'd say that if you have an 89 in good shape, with a modern vinyl hose and updated attachments, you'd be hard pressed to find anything better (I said the very same thing about the 88).