Jon Tofte
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I have been active in Weber collecting and restorations for at least 7 or 8 years. Over that time, I have posted a number of wistful, but congratulatory, comments when the lucky few posters here have found and acquired a Vieluxe grill. The ultimate Weber orphan, unicorn or - if you want - holy grail. Since I moved to Indiana, there have been a few posted in the Chicago area and in Wisconsin, and one even in Indiana - although far from where I live. Some were priced pretty high, and almost all were natural gas - unavailable to me.
So, when a 56" Vieluxe - LP no less - showed up on FBM an hour and a half from me, I was tormented. I have WAY too many unfinished projects, and under current circumstances a pretty limited amount of time to work on them. The seller was asking $600, which is kind of low compared to some others. I tried hard to ignore as things have been tight lately, and my wife would have zero tolerance for spending that on yet ANOTHER GRILL, even if it was a Vieluxe.
As you can see, the seller went down to $500, and I was kind of lamenting to @Bruce and @Dave in KC in a long-running private message thread we have. Dave recommended that I throw out a low offer and see what happens. I apologized for the low number, and offered the seller $350. He went for it, and my wife even gave my reluctant tower clearance! THANK YOU, Dave, for giving me the nudge to make this offer!
These things weigh in at 440 pounds! A friend from my church let me hook up his trailer to my old Dodge and went with me on another grill adventure. As we drove out in the rural area of Illinois outside of Effingham, I told my friend that this didn't look like the kind of place where a buyer of an $8,000 grill would live.
virtualwebergasgrill.com
We arrived to meet a very nice family going through some challenges. The mother of the adult son explained that this grill had originally been purchased 20 something years ago by the owner of the Burger King franchise in Effingham. It wound up in an estate sale where this family paid $2,000 to get it. The son was going through a divorce, and there were three young children running around. He was selling stuff off, and the Vieluxe was in that mix.
This was the first time I had ever seen a Vieluxe in person, but I recognized it immediately. The weight of this beast had created warps in their wood deck! The seller and I had agreed that I would have time to do some disassembly to make it more realistic for us to get it off the deck and onto the trailer. When I got to work, I saw the good, bad and ugly!
THE GOOD:
Amazing build attention to detail that I have never seen before. Even my 1st generation Summit doesn't come close nor does any other grill I have ever seen. The logo was faded as expected (completely on this one), but I was shocked to find that it, and the wording and marks for burners and instructions, were all ENGRAVED into the stainless-steel:
I fully expected that the rotisserie would have been long lost, but I was very happy to find that while the motor was MIA, the long spit and all 4 forks (one missing a tightener) were all present and in nice condition:
The seller had clearly shown in his loan picture that the electronic igniters were missing. Imagine my very happy surprise when he opened the side door where the LP tank goes and pulled out this "gem box":
What a stash! Maybe the only NOS Vieluxe labeled parts left anywhere! Those igniter collector boxes will sure come in handy, because most of the originals - and the whole inside of this grill - are toast:
THE BAD:
THE UGLY:
I opened the smoker box to find an abandoned mouse nest. The best, though, was when I pulled out the solid stainless steel drip tray piled high with a mountain of burnt grease and debris, topped off with a dead mouse (removed before this picture):
The seller's mother said, "What is that?!!" I gently told her it was the grease tray they should have periodically scraped and cleaned! She said that they didn't even know what it was
!
Another find - but positive - was when I removed the stainless cover from the infrared (labeled "sear burner"). When I said "Infrared" the sellers looked at me like I was crazy. Here it is with well camouflaged with the now greasy cover on it:
I removed the cover to reveal the rear infrared burner that looked - fortunately - to not have seen the light of day for years:
The seller said they had no idea this was even there!
The seller helped me and my friend get this thing onto the trailer, and we were off! My friend, Paul, waves goodbye. The seller family expressed their happiness that this Vieluxe was going to someone who appreciated what it is.
TO BE CONTINUED
So, when a 56" Vieluxe - LP no less - showed up on FBM an hour and a half from me, I was tormented. I have WAY too many unfinished projects, and under current circumstances a pretty limited amount of time to work on them. The seller was asking $600, which is kind of low compared to some others. I tried hard to ignore as things have been tight lately, and my wife would have zero tolerance for spending that on yet ANOTHER GRILL, even if it was a Vieluxe.
As you can see, the seller went down to $500, and I was kind of lamenting to @Bruce and @Dave in KC in a long-running private message thread we have. Dave recommended that I throw out a low offer and see what happens. I apologized for the low number, and offered the seller $350. He went for it, and my wife even gave my reluctant tower clearance! THANK YOU, Dave, for giving me the nudge to make this offer!
These things weigh in at 440 pounds! A friend from my church let me hook up his trailer to my old Dodge and went with me on another grill adventure. As we drove out in the rural area of Illinois outside of Effingham, I told my friend that this didn't look like the kind of place where a buyer of an $8,000 grill would live.
Vieluxe: The Weber Luxury Grill You've Probably Never Heard Of - The Virtual Weber Gas Grill
Background In 2001, grilling was more popular than ever. According to the Barbecue Industry Association, over 15 million grills were sold in America the previous year, up 32% from 1997. About 75% of households owned a grill, and over 50% used them all year long. The most popular book at the time...
virtualwebergasgrill.com
We arrived to meet a very nice family going through some challenges. The mother of the adult son explained that this grill had originally been purchased 20 something years ago by the owner of the Burger King franchise in Effingham. It wound up in an estate sale where this family paid $2,000 to get it. The son was going through a divorce, and there were three young children running around. He was selling stuff off, and the Vieluxe was in that mix.
This was the first time I had ever seen a Vieluxe in person, but I recognized it immediately. The weight of this beast had created warps in their wood deck! The seller and I had agreed that I would have time to do some disassembly to make it more realistic for us to get it off the deck and onto the trailer. When I got to work, I saw the good, bad and ugly!
THE GOOD:
Amazing build attention to detail that I have never seen before. Even my 1st generation Summit doesn't come close nor does any other grill I have ever seen. The logo was faded as expected (completely on this one), but I was shocked to find that it, and the wording and marks for burners and instructions, were all ENGRAVED into the stainless-steel:
I fully expected that the rotisserie would have been long lost, but I was very happy to find that while the motor was MIA, the long spit and all 4 forks (one missing a tightener) were all present and in nice condition:
The seller had clearly shown in his loan picture that the electronic igniters were missing. Imagine my very happy surprise when he opened the side door where the LP tank goes and pulled out this "gem box":
What a stash! Maybe the only NOS Vieluxe labeled parts left anywhere! Those igniter collector boxes will sure come in handy, because most of the originals - and the whole inside of this grill - are toast:
THE BAD:
THE UGLY:
I opened the smoker box to find an abandoned mouse nest. The best, though, was when I pulled out the solid stainless steel drip tray piled high with a mountain of burnt grease and debris, topped off with a dead mouse (removed before this picture):
The seller's mother said, "What is that?!!" I gently told her it was the grease tray they should have periodically scraped and cleaned! She said that they didn't even know what it was
!Another find - but positive - was when I removed the stainless cover from the infrared (labeled "sear burner"). When I said "Infrared" the sellers looked at me like I was crazy. Here it is with well camouflaged with the now greasy cover on it:
I removed the cover to reveal the rear infrared burner that looked - fortunately - to not have seen the light of day for years:
The seller said they had no idea this was even there!
The seller helped me and my friend get this thing onto the trailer, and we were off! My friend, Paul, waves goodbye. The seller family expressed their happiness that this Vieluxe was going to someone who appreciated what it is.
TO BE CONTINUED
!
