http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI....em&item=7613760467

This is a Bunn (aka Futurmat or some other Gaggia Espagnol branch) 2 grouper with a decorative top. I unfortunately forgot the website, but the tops cost around $400, and you just plop them on the warming tray for an effect undoubtedly regarded as classy in parts of New Jersey.

I remember a series of posts on Coffeegeek by Kev, who restored one of these Bunn machines. The innards had been heavily modified from the Futurmat standard and weren't a pretty sight, especially the heat exchanger, which turned out to be a coil of braided hose lying at the bottom of the boiler.

These machines may date from a time when US espresso was 4 to 6 ounces of lukewarm swill pulled from a coarse grind into a mug. The machine had been modified to achieve this effect and perhaps protect Bunn's regular brewer sales.

HaHaHaHa!

I love mining old posts.

(edit: I didn't realize it would get pushed to the top of the board though, sorry )