I own a 1973 Kirby. Works perfect, inherited it from my mom (it got to be too heavy for her). I've been using it for about 20 years now trouble free. Hell, it hasn't even needed a new belt or roller - and I can still find bags pretty easily. So...if it ain't broke, why buy a new one?
And, no. I have not named it. It's just "The Kirby".
And Chuck, if you really loved Beth - I bet it wouldn't be all that difficult to fix it. IMHO it wasn't "sparks" - my guess is that the motor was drawing too much amps which melted that connector to the point that the connector sockets touched.
You'd be surprised what parts one can find on Ebay...