interesting zenith console on ebay
 

You don't see too many of these early 80's zeniths in the "1960s" looking plain TV cabinet. Ive seen them a few times before, but the ones I found were always smoker sets in the worst of condition.

I like the simple clean cut styling of this cabinet, no frills, just a TV. Would be nice if RCA kept a cabinet of similar design in production this late.

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-ZENITH-F...1%7C240%3A1318

Zenith also kept around some other older features a lot longer than other manufactures, such as metal cabinet sets and the 23" picture tube.

Very true. I remember a good friend of mine back in elementry school, their TV was a 23" metal cabinet zenith from around 1983. It has the green LED readout. I always liked that TV. Those seem as rare as the 60's table models too.

I don't think I've seen a set of this cabinet style from the '80's. I did see a mid '80's 25" table model Zenith in a particleboard cabinet that had holes on the underside of the cabinet where legs could be screwed on. I have seen a 25" System 3 from the early '80's and a 23" Zenith SS B&W from the late '70's that were housed in steel cabinets. Last but not least, back in the early '90's, I saw a Zenith steel cabinet / steel back color TV at a repair shop. It looked just like something from the late '60's or early '70's. When I walked around and looked at the front, it was a digital tuned set. I've never seen another TV like it since. I always thought Zenith discontinued the steel backs in the early '70's. Maybe it was made for commerical use.

I have a similar set I "adopted out" to my cousin. She loves it, and actually watches it more than her "new" set as the Zenith has a better picture.
On mine it has the factory roll away cart. It weighs a TON. I see this one has Space Phone!

I remember the metal cabinet sets from grade school back in the mid-80's. We had them on tall metal carts, tipped forward at about a 15 degree angle. I've always liked the plainer-styled sets; my daily watcher is a 25KC45 from 12/78 with a simple square cabinet.

The metal cabinet sets are my favorite too...the one I've used for years with no trouble in my living room is a 1978 or 79 Chromacolor II 23" delta gun metal cabinet set with Space Command. The metal cabinet sets often had all the features of the "monstrosity" huge furniture cabinet sets but were much cheaper in price.

Best of both worlds...looks and features. I did not care for the 70's Dungeon look.......I mean Mediterranean. :)

I had one of those, I picked it up at an estate sale earlier this year. I gave it to a family member over the summer. They do weigh a TON, I carried it out of my basement by myself. Mine was an '81.

I've run across a fair number of the 23" early 80s System III sets with cheap console cabinets and no remote (had the electronic rotary switch tuner). I haven't seen any with a metal back later than 1973 (25EC58Z chassis).

Charles