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I'm new to the world of Coke machines so I might not see the obvious.  Why are there so many Vendo 39's for sale with missing drums that are otherwise complete?  I looked to buy a 39 for a while and saw quite a few that looked like they were in really good shape but the drum was gone.  I ended up getting one of these and buying a new drum that holds 12oz bottles anyway.  Keeping it 100% original isn't super important to me.  Thanks.
Eric

       When Coke set up a new machine on location they were instructed to either remove the old machine or pull the drum so Pepsi or 7up couldn't use it.
        I heard there is a valt under the old Vendo plant in Fresno California that holds 50,000 Vendo 39 drums.  :biggrin:

I was told by an old timer that back when coke owned these machines if there was a problem with a higher producing machine they would cannibalize a lower producing machine near by to get that one going. Then the other was up to the mercy of coke to get it back.

Don't know of the validity of this, but the guy had me by 45 years so who was I to question it. He was into coke machines until the 1990's. He also showed me his cease and desist letter from coke, but that is a different story.

But what moondog says makes sense, it would prevent competition. Didn't Pepsi offer the 12 ounce bottle instead of the 6.5 at this time? would it vend it?

You mean sort of like the millions of Atari cartridges said to be buried under a concrete slab in Alamagordo, NM?

From what I can tell the ET game was indeed THAT bad.  :biggrin:

I remember the ET Atari game and yes it was that bad…

I think people thought it would be cool to use a 39 for everything else but vending soda bottles. The machine does have 101+ uses without the drum. Refrigerator, kegerator, closet, safe, gun rack,
pantry, bookshelf, DVD holder, coffin, etc., etc., etc.

Wow, that's an interesting story.  Thanks for the responses!