Just perusing eBay I stumbled onto this item and got Dan's permission to post since it's more educational than a plug for the sale. I had no idea LaMarzocco made such a machine. It sure would be nice to see a fellow HB'er restore this machine, posting pictures and details of the process along the way, but in order to do so they will have to have deep pockets. The starting price is a whopping $20K!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI....&item=170296622283

Here are the pics that are in the auction since the listing will be deleted once sufficient time has passed. I'm sure the owner won't mind...

Am I completely ignorant? I mean, I could see this going for $20-30K if it were restored, but that seems awfully high for a machine that looks to be in near-utter disrepair, on sale from a seller with no reputation on eBay. Very interesting, thanks for the heads up.

That was my first impression also Nicholas. I would be curious to see what would go into restoring this, at least in parts finding. It would be beautiful when completed though!

Partly restored? That must be shorthand for parts missing.

I have three of these in my basement, but I didn't think they were worth anything...

I laughed when I saw this on ebay. I can't imagine why one would think this machine is worth that amount. I'd suspect a $7,000 round-trip first class ticket to Firenze and a couple weeks scrounging around junkyards or used equipment places or even a few advertisements in local papers would net a truckload of these to haul back. Even staying in a really nice place and drinking an extra doppio every morning would be cheaper. Here is a link to an article by an American who lives there and knows LaMarzocco. Dunno if he is still there, but I'm sure for $10,000 he'd find you at least two of these machines in similar shape and ship them to you. http://www.theflorentine.net/arti...asp?issuetocId=991
Bernie

Glad to see I'm not the only one that saw the price and thought, ...for a machine that looks like it's ready to be cashed in as scrap metal? I thought to myself, perhaps this guy mistakenly entered in 20K when he meant 2K. Still, it sure would be nice to see one of these in its full glory.

My favorite part of the listing is the "partly restored" comment. I think that means it was dusted off...

As a side note, do any of you know of a project where someone took an old machine's shell and replaced the internals with modern components to create an espresso rod?

Cheers!

I was about to jump right on this bad boy, but I just don't have the time to go pick it up in NZ.

But this is Ebay, and it is amazing how many people buy junk for more than what it would cost to buy that same item brand new.

Can't blame the seller, as it's "buyer beware".

Mike

The seller also has a Probat sample roaster up for sale, and it takes a lot to surprise me about what you find in Wellington, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was a perfectly legit deal.

I have no idea what one of those would go for in unrestored condition, I've never seen an old lever LM on ebay before, but the scary thing is that there is a reserve AND a non-zero starting bid. The seller probably wants more than USD20k. The lack of a front-on picture is a worry in that context.

Anyone have any actual experience with prices on these kinds of machines?