I have had my VPI Scoutmaster since 2005 or 2006, I do grease the bearing every few years. It replaced the earlier entry level VPI that I bought in the late 90s - my daughter now uses that,
I had a Thorens before the VPI, before I entered the high end phase.
In the late 60s early 70s it was a Garrard 301. That (and my Quad 33/303 ESL) setup was lost when I moved to the USA in '72.