The MARCFI "Piccola," was a Franco era Spanish knock-off of the La Pavoni levers, and imported by Thomas Cara, Ltd. here in SF (re-labled by them as a "La Cara") until Pavoni threatend legal action.
So these are pretty rare outside of Northern California, and you seldom find them in this condition even around here!
This one has a slightly cock-eyed steam wand fitting (shown in the pics) but is solid and has no leaks.
It's got a couple tiny dings in the gray powdercoated base, but this machine seriously hasn't been used much at all! (Check out the shiny INSIDE of the portafiler.)
We've put all new seals in it just because forty something year old rubber gets hard even just sitting around, and this one operates close to new!
We also installed a new rubber base edge strip.
The really cool thing about these, aside from their special oddity, is the build quality (especially the chrome work) was equivilent or better than even the early Pavoni machines. The chrome looks like it was poured on.
The boiler and group are chromed brass, with the group being essentially a "brass insert" era La Pavoni casting (uses the same piston seals as the La Pavon levers, so it's easy to maintain!)
And even BETTER than the early Pavoni, is the fact that the group bolts onto the boiler! The first gen Europiccola groups were screwed into the boiler, making removal a pain. MARCFI made it easy on the "Piccola." (Try changing the the shaft seal on the first generation La Pavoni!)
What makes it clearly "not a Europiccola" is the larger boiler, and the heating element, which was soldered into a brass plate bolted onto the bottom. So don't burn yours up, cause they're hard to find now!
The base is almost the identical shape as the Pavoni,
These employ the Pavoni style "hi/low" switches with no off position! The "temperture control" is the pressure relief valve built into the cap. Once this baby is heated up, it steams away like Grandma's pressure cooker!
(We'll throw in a handly little wall outlet switch, so you won't have to yank the cord out of the wall to turn it off!)
Comes with the original single and double baskets, tamper, and the little tin pitcher Thomas Cara would include in the package (this one has a hole punched in the side, so it's for historical "fun" only.)
Thomas Cara, Ltd. may now be defunct, but we're doing our best to keep their legacy and these bastard Europiccolas alive!