Cavalier c-51g pepsi machine

Group
well i just picked up a Cavalier C-51 G Pepsi Machine??

It is blue and you can see where Pepsi sticker were once
on both sides of the machine, and also it looks like
there was a sign screwed over the original Coca cola embossed
lettering on the front..
Is this a rare find??
Everything is in the machine except for the fan down by the compressor(its actually laying inside the unit)
and theres a small box with 6 wires down by the compressor with one of the screw terminals broken off..Available?

is this a machine to restore or part out??

[coke_and_stuff]

If everything is there and nor rusted out anywhere it would be a good one to restore, If it has rust issues etc you could make a small fortune off parts. They arent really rare or desirable machines. I have one and need parts so if you do decide to part it out LMK.

Joey

[johnieG]

As stated by "coke_and_stuff" the Cavalier C51 & was embossed only for Coca~Cola, and it is a fairly common machine from its day, also, it was quite common for a rival bottler, in this case Pepsi, to aquire (by hook or by crook) another bottlers machine & convert it to vending their brand of soda, a coat of Pepsi blue, a tin sign, & "Ta-Da" it's selling Pepsi now!  :'> , it's not "rare" in the sense of numbers producted, but it is unique, ( if it's complete with it's sign) but,if you were to sell it, ( without the original Pepsi sign) chances are very good that it would be restored back into a "Coke" machine, or used for parts...

As a note...some early Pepsi ice chests were in fact painted Red, the reasoning is I'm guessing, to attract a thirsty customer flying down the road in his car, he pulls over to get gas & a "Coke"  chances would be he'd end up getting a "Pepsi" instead of leaving empty-handed & thirsty! the ol' "bait & switch" you'll also see this practice fairly often on Ideal & Glasco Sliders.

[joesquid]

Johnnie,
Your knowledge on these interesting points of history never cease to amaze me.....just how old are you?? '>

[sodaworks]

The "aquiring" of other brands of machines were common practice for bottlers. They would aquire machines from new locations that had the competitors machines. They would supply the new client with their "new machine" and offer to haul away the old machine. The old machine would recieve a fresh coat of their color of paint and new decals. This machine would be put onto a new location. This practice was quite common. '>