Saw this today. Seems pretty cool


 
Weber only made those for a year or two. All reviews on them are on the negative side as far as function. But, that is one of those things that people are not buying any more for function. That is a collectors item and would probably do pretty well as a flip if it was cleaned up.
 
Bruce said:
Weber only made those for a year or two. All reviews on them are on the negative side as far as function. But, that is one of those things that people are not buying any more for function. That is a collectors item and would probably do pretty well as a flip if it was cleaned up.
Click to expand...
Parents had one. Worst grill I EVER used. Worse than even the Chineseum grills of today. Which is why it makes me REALLY wonder why anyone would try to rescue one today. They were awful when brand new!
 
Guilty on BOTH accounts!

If I was rich, one of those gas kettles, an Edsel, an AMC Pacer (and a Gremlin), Kaisers and other odd balls would all be there in my museums.

Very seldom do you see a Weber gas kettle for sale these days, but they usually are missing parts (probably not replaceable) and are asking pretty high prices. I think the desire to own one has nothing do do with cooking on them but the story behind the failed effort.
 
Yah, those things were purposely built to collect rust...I swear. I had a buddy who said he had to go out once a week and snip off loose chunks of body metal that was falling off his. His vega looked like a Cup series car after a rough day at martinsville. The front fenders were basically gone from the headlight to door seem.
 
I bet you don't remember the Plymouth CRICKET! My Dad was a salesman who worked out of his car driving all over New York City. He got a new Cheverolet every two years until he retired in 1974. He decided retirement meant downsizing and economizing so he fell for the supposed bargain of a 1971 Cricket. Chrysler was caught flat footed by the VW and Japanese invasion and didn't have the resources to make their own version of the Vega or Pinto. Based on the fiascos they both turned out to be, maybe that was a good thing, but, to plug the hole they brought over the "Avenger" from their UK business. A piece of junk made when the UK was well, well past their prime for making cars. One article described them as "rusting on the assembly line!" It was a terrible car and my first driver. Eventually my Dad sold it and got a mid-size Buick.

His/mIne looked just like this one:

plymouth_cricket.jpg
 
Jon Tofte said:
I bet you don't remember the Plymouth CRICKET! My Dad was a salesman who worked out of his car driving all over New York City. He got a new Cheverolet every two years until he retired in 1974. He decided retirement meant downsizing and economizing so he fell for the supposed bargain of a 1971 Cricket. Chrysler was caught flat footed by the VW and Japanese invasion and didn't have the resources to make their own version of the Vega or Pinto. Based on the fiascos they both turned out to be, maybe that was a good thing, but, to plug the hole they brought over the "Avenger" from their UK business. A piece of junk made when the UK was well, well past their prime for making cars. One article described them as "rusting on the assembly line!" It was a terrible car and my first driver. Eventually my Dad sold it and got a mid-size Buick.

His/mIne looked just like this one:

View attachment 88333
Click to expand...
Remember those VERY well. Forgot who actually made them. Had bought a Vega GT brand new in 1972. What a POS. By December of 72 front fenders were already rusting through (not even 1 yo!) also had porous engine block literally leaking coolant through the block.
 
The Weber Gas Kettle was around for 12 years (1971-1984), so it did well enough to last that long, but it never came close to being as popular as the charcoal Kettle.

There was even an electric kettle in 1974. It's not as clear to me how long that one lasted.

The story goes that the Gas Kettle didn't sell very well because it looked just like a Charcoal Kettle, and that consumers didn't even realize that it ran on gas since most gas grills were rectangular. It also used lava rocks instead of flavorizer bars, which came with their own set of issues.

When Jim Stephen went to his father George and pitched the idea for a rectangular shaped gas grill (the Genesis), George told him to go ahead and give it a try, and after several years of development launched in 1985. So, if the Gas Kettle had sold better we might never have gotten the Genesis.

You can find that story here.
1711405218007.png1711405249434.png1711405273737.png1711405301740.png
 
I had bought a charcoal kettle in the early 70s. When I moved out from their home, I took it with and my mom loved the food off it so much but hated dealing with charcoal so she (without my dad knowing how expensive that gas kettle was) bought one in that weird brown color. Was truly a chore and an awful grill to cook on. There was no "in between" with it. Either too hot and incinerating everything or everything raw.
 
LMichaels said:
I had bought a charcoal kettle in the early 70s. When I moved out from their home, I took it with and my mom loved the food off it so much but hated dealing with charcoal so she (without my dad knowing how expensive that gas kettle was) bought one in that weird brown color. Was truly a chore and an awful grill to cook on. There was no "in between" with it. Either too hot and incinerating everything or everything raw.
Click to expand...
Exactly the experience with my friend's. It quickly turned burgers into hocky pucks. It was even worse than my early gassers with the stamped oval and/or H-burners.
 
Bruce said:
Ford Pinto, Pontiac Fiero, Chevy Vega, Opel GT, etc.......Short runs of cars that seemed like a great idea, but never really lasted.
Click to expand...
While none of these cars make my personal list of classics, they all stuck around for at least a little while with the Pinto being the winner at ten model years. Chevy Vega, 8 model years. Opel GT, 6 model years. Pontiac Fiero, 5 model years. The Edsel, while a sales flop that only lasted three years was to me a very attractive car. To each his own.
 
Yeah, I've always thought the Edsel was one of the ugliest line of cars ever made. So yep, opinions vary. I remember when I was a kid people who owned them constantly complaining how bad they were and couldn't wait to unload them
 
Steve Hoch said:
While none of these cars make my personal list of classics, they all stuck around for at least a little while with the Pinto being the winner at ten model years. Chevy Vega, 8 model years. Opel GT, 6 model years. Pontiac Fiero, 5 model years. The Edsel, while a sales flop that only lasted three years was to me a very attractive car. To each his own.
Click to expand...
The Edsel was a dreadfully made car as American manufacturing became more and more smug in their market dominance. I love the story of corporate pomposity, though, and for sure the attempt to do something dramatically different with styling. (One of my other favorites, a car which I actually owned for a while, the "boat tail" Riviera of the early 70s tried and failed similarly. At least it was overall a decent car - if you can live with the 10.1 mpg on high test fuel that mine got!

I think if the first year Edsel had looked like the 1959 model, the reception might have been a lot better. The '59 wasn't all that differently styled than a Pontiac, but by then it was too late. The brief 1960 was just a warmed-over Ford for the most part, in my view anyway.

Cars - and grills for that matter - that were unique and tried to be daring are usually among the ones that I like the best.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top