Now that you're stuck in your own house, how 'bout a quick trivia question? What is the diffference between "like new," and "new?"
When something that is "old" is actually new, of course!
And you're looking at one of those. A rare and wonderful example of a machine that was made in 1996, then put on a shelf and never used!
Seems like that should be incredibly rare, right? And it is. But we've actually stumbled onto more than one of these now with La Pavoni levers. Which is a genuinely weird and interesting phenomena.
Maybe La Pavoni lever machines are akin to home exercise equipment!? (Which you DO see still "new" in thrift stores all the time, virtually untouched from the day they arrived with all the "best intentions" -- to finally get in shape...)
Except 20 or 30 year old home exercise equipment is seldom collectable, or worth anything other than an unwieldy trip to the landfill.
Kind of mind bending. Home exercise equipment and La Pavoni levers "similar?"
It's really more like stumbling onto a "new" '72 Marantz receiver once in a while. (Which we don't, unfortunately.)
Ok, to be clear, this is has had two shots pulled on it. We've learned we have to "test" everything before we send it out. So it's not new. It's "new!"
So there you have it. A 1996 Europiccola that ended up being like a late night TV impulse buy "ab machine!" It also happens to be the last year of the "hi/lo" dual heating element Pre-Millenniums. Not quite up to the quality of the 80s and earlier machines, but still "better" (in our humble opinion, quality wise) than the later Millennium models.
Of course it would be way more impressive if the original box and "extras" were with it, but hey, you can't have everything (and we'd be charging a heck of a lot more!) And who really wants one of those plastic tampers?
The one "flaw" with this machine is that somehow it suffered a "portafilter ding" on the front of the boiler, as you can see in the pics (ok, we're guessing that's what it came from, we didn't do it, I swear!) Just adds some character to an otherwise normal 90s machine!
We'll give a four month warranty on this one that covers everything but "pilot error" (i.e. dropping it on the floor, overheating or forgetting you left it on and melting down the heating element, etc.) If something somehow magically were to go wrong, you ship it back and we'll take care of the rest (including shipping back to you.) (We won't have to!)
Like everything we sell, we pulled it apart and put new seals in the group (the 24 year old rubber was in remarkable condition, but still...) We also had to remove the original factory grease, which had congealed and gotten "sticky" from sitting around cold all these years. So she has a fresh lube and piston adjustment as well.
Remember, we think this was the last year without a pressurestat, so you have to be "present" once you turn it on! When the heating element is turned on, it's ALWAYS on, either "high" or "low," until you turn it off! The pressure relief valve will sing it's happy hissing song as long as there is water in the boiler. (If you're not sure how to use one of these, feel free to ask.)
We'll also include a genuine new Motta 49mm tamper (actually made in Italy!) and of course it comes with both the original single and double portafiler baskets. We'll throw in (or install, if you like) one of our custom single hole steam tips for making modern microfoam (instead of the stock 3 hole Pavoni tip.) Just let us know before we send it to you.
Ok, this sounds silly, but let's say it anyway. Here's your opportunity to own a "new" Pre-Millennium Europiccola. A blast from a time warp. Think about it. The "Macarena" was blowing up living rooms across America with line dancing 12 year olds! (Thank god some things pass.)
Stay inside, and stay safe. Please! Sending love from San Francisco to housebound leverheads everywhere.