FORMAT: VHS     DATE: 1984 PRICE: £? [2005: £?] 50x30x14 cm

In most ways this Grundig is a pretty typical mid-Eighties VHS front-loader. It's quite a stylish machine, and bears some similarity in design to their 1600 model V2000 machine.
About the only unusual feature from the owner's point of view is the typically idiosyncratic Grundig controls. For example, although most of the button now have fairly standard symbols on them, they were still clinging to "CASS"rather than "EJECT" or (more consistently) "^". They must have really liked that idea!
There were also separate buttons for FF/REW and forward/reverse picture search, which seems rather redundanttoday. The tuning, AV and timer buttons are on the front panel, unusually, though thankfully the multi-function display prompts you as you go through these functions.

But the main reason I'm featuring this machine is completely invisible to the user. Inside, unlike any other VHS machine that I know of, is a ring-loading, C-lacing mechanism, like Betamax (and of course Grundig's V2000 machines). Unlike Beta machines, the tape is unlaced for FF and REW, which makes these functions a little slow to react, but otherwise the mechanism works well. It just looks very, very odd to me, for a VHS deck!