Ok ladies, after discovering this forum, and especially after finding all the Featherweight discussions, you have all become "enablers". I simply must have one of these machines. I searched the topics here, I've scoured the internet and read many, many sites about Featherweights. Now I have a few questions for all you experts. If money was not a serious consideration, what would you buy? Are there any years that are supposed to be better, more updated, more trustworthy etc? I have found many, many for sale. I live in a rural area, so getting one worked on if I needed to would not be easy. I'm sure my husband and I can clean one and maintain it. He restores old cars. This would be right us his alley. So, do I buy gently used, almost new, totally stripped down and re-done? I'll be glad for any and all opinions. I plan on keeping this for a looong time, and hopefully teaching my 6 year old granddaughter to quilt in the future. Thanks!!