Date of manufacture: ‘50s
Country of origin: Italy
Country of purchase: France
Serial number: 576
Power: 750 W
Configuration: open boiler, spring lever
Tamper size: 43 mm?
No filter basket (yet!)



Translated by Gary Seeman.






It's still weird and certainly presumptuous of me to think that this machine wouldn’t enrich my collection.
As it’s been written, “it was destiny.”

I already had machines with a high potential for lust, but
here it is beyond comprehension. To me it is one of those mythical small levers that every collector recognizes at first glance, but one of which we know little. I never saw one working, aside from a few photos on the net. These give little information and you wonder what kind of coffee they are able to make. This incites a jealousy of treasure that is hidden from view and the envy of all. One night, while thinking of that desire I dragged my addiction to a sales site. It “lands” on this post .. !! ?? I did not recognize it at first, since this kind of machine is UN-OB-TAIN-ABLE and yet I had to surrender to the evidence.

Incredible,
incredible ... where your heart pounds in your chest and you feel a cold sweat. You know the state of stress, of emotion, as when you make your first declaration of love. Given the late hour, I cannot see myself calling to declare my love to the seller, he might take it badly! It was a bad night, but the next morning at 8:00 a.m. I pick up the phone. I'll spare you the details of different calls, but there is always that element of fear that someone might burst your bubble, since the ad is still displayed. The seller was honest and fulfilled his commitment to send it to me despite the many calls he took thereafter. Wow, and thank you!



Here are pictures of the ad.









The seller told me he is a collector of typewriters and acquired this coffee machine with a batch of machines he collected sometime in the past 10 years. If one starts collecting “stuff” that’s diverse and varied, one uncovers such rarities. I'm not out of the woods, though. He told me also he had "scratched off some peeling paint.” Unfortunately scratch is the word. The machine has suffered some damage. I even think there’s been an attempt to restore it; we'll see later. Since then it has slept quietly in the basement.I have found six on the net with certainty, thanks to the serial number.They come in three different voltages: 110, 160 and 220 volts, and two finishes.One has black bakelite handles, the other brown. They all have the same white paint.



And on arrival …


I already told you how I advise sellers on packing for shipment ...
I do
not have to explain the tremulous voice that accompanies my request.

I must say that the machine is not only exceptional, but it is topped by a glass globe, its boiler!

My friend Lucio Del Piccolo experienced this mishap with such a machine, and I certainly do not wanted
to experience the same nightmare.






Cautious unpacking is required.









The general inspection can begin.



The paint was removed ... with a hammer and chisel or nearly so!
And the chrome suffered some damage with the passage of time.










I cannot resist the urge to add water and turn it on.




Its magic begins to operate!





Too bad the levers are stuck, otherwise I would have tried to brew a shot of coffee.




The delirium of that base and drip tray!
I’s actually a box knock concealed by a grid, which opens with a button on the front panel.

Disassembly can start, and I begin with the globe. It’s a pain to remove as there is a joint in a channel, and the base of the globe is
secured by this joint ... outside and inside. So with a large, flexible saw blade, I patiently carved out a small piece of gasket.


To be continued...