Hi guys,

I've creeped here for years, but mostly for information gathering. I've been researching for about 3-6 months about beans to machines and am finally at a bit of a brick wall.

For starters, I bought a Citroen HY van a few weeks ago and it's in Conwy, Wales getting worked on. And will be shipped to where I live, NYC area to sell espresso and coffee out of! Below are some photos.

Unloading at the shop



What they can look like



It's pretty sexy right now.



Anyway, now with a little backstory out of the way... I'm trying to get a dual group lever espresso machine. There seems to be very very very few on the market. And most of them are in Italy like the Lelit, and aren't distributed or carry a warranty in the states.

I'm on a bit of a tighter budget, or I would just spring for a slayer or mirage. And I really really don't like the look of the astoria or other similar generic machines.

So my question is two fold... Is there anyone I'm missing? In the sub 10k range? I know about Salvatore, but they literally won't call me back. I've called them 5 times now over the last month. He's 'too busy to call back.' And they have a 6 month backlog.

Is it stupid to consider used? Mirage 2/3 group lever machines seem to popup frequently enough. I'd assume because people want to switch back to semi or full auto. But I'm clueless with it comes to used espresso machines.

Thanks in advance. And if you have anymore questions for me ahead of time, shoot! I work from home.

This may not be of any help, but there's one of these local (Toronto) that uses a simply 2 group Linea EE, which can be found for pretty cheap! Add the Ace Services Shureshot to the system and you'd have a pretty fantastic machine that's capable of most anything, and for a reasonable price!

That being said, if you DID want a Slayer, you could always spring for a 1 group. If only 1 person is operating the machine it should definitely keep up with demand, especially with a 220v.

I love these things either way, and I'll defn swing a visit next time I'm in NYC!

Go with a mobile mod bar arrangement and interact more? Would go perfect with your super clean aesthetic.

If you ever sell that thing I want to buy it to convert into an espresso camping van!

In addition to the Linea equipped mobile @chrisbodnarphoto mentioned, this little Vespa in Toronto uses an 2 group Astoria lever. I believe it also runs on propane.
http://www.macchinamobile.com/#!about-macchina/cy19

However, I've never used one of these machines so I can't comment on it. Here's Astoria's website.
http://www.usa.astoria.com/product/glor ... l-2-lever/

Londinium, La Pavoni Bar, Bosco, Izzo Pompei, Fracino, Victoria Arduino are all available in two group and might fit your needs.

most use 2-group Astoria lever machines

Séb wrote:Londinium, La Pavoni Bar, Bosco, Izzo Pompei, Fracino, Victoria Arduino are all available in two group and might fit your needs.

The 2 group Londinium is a lot less than 10K. Especially where the Pound is nowadays.
https://londiniumespresso.com/buy-now/p ... ndinium-ii

The Bosco will have US distributors and might be worth calling them for pricing:
http://www.bosco-macchine.com/distributors.asp?cn=164

La Pavoni has some options by a distributor nearby in NJ
http://www.1st-line.com/store/pc/viewCa ... 6=0&VS18=0

I'm in NJ too and am also thinking of doing a mobile espresso set up, although your Citroen is way cooler than my vision. Where are you? I'd love to follow your progress.

My machine of choice is a gas-powered Astoria Rapallo. $4600 for the machine and about $600 for the gas kit. You can run them electric or gas once the kit is installed. Nice vintage looks coupled with local serviceability. But if your platform is an old Citroen HY, local serviceability might not be high on your list

We are currently in the process of doing the exact same thing, minus the truck. We are building a pop up/mobile cart. I love the idea of a truck but we decided not to be restricted to only outdoor events. We went with a vintage Astoria fiore and restored it to run off propane/110v. So I would agree that's the way to go. Like almico said, the rapallo is way under your budget and would make an excellent choice. The CMA lever is about as solid as it gets design wise.

You gotta remember that with a little work you can make your machine look however you want.



Man, that truck is seriously BA. I LOVE IT.