hello All,

I am in the process of sourcing an Commercial Coffee Machine for a Pizza Shop. I'm not looking at high volume sales 15-20Kg a week, I want to provide the best quality coffee to my clientele.

My preference is to purchase the FAEMA e61.

The obvious differences between the Vintage and Legend are heat exchanger upgrading, on/off switch, pressurestat, auto refill and variable heat to group heads.

My dilemma...is the Vintage or the Legend ??? Also which is more valuble ???
My interpretation...when I say compare a 1961 Original Vintage Ferrari to a 2001 Reproduction made by Ferrari, i would say the Vintage would be a more nostalgic showpiece and workhouse, although the Reproduction would be a smoother more reliable drive.

your comments would be much appreciated.
thankyou

I am posting here, even though forum deals with home usage as members would be coffee connoisseurs...just asking your opinion as a customer with no knowledge of FAEMA.

Comparisons of FAEMA Vintage and Legend if possible from other establishments possibly? Would the average coffee customer even know a "Legend" was a reproduction of a 1961 machine?

any feedback would be greatly appreciated...many thanks

I'll chime in. Getting a vintage machine for a shop, even a low volume one, can be dicey. That is unless you rebuild the machine and refurbish it yourself, and that can cost as much as a brand new one. I would say go with the legend. 99.9% of the customers won't know it's not vintage and will be enamored by the vintage look. I imagine the legend in a pizza shop would look so classy and scream Italian!

The only way I'd go with the vintage is if I felt comfortable fixing the machine myself everytime the customer needed it. With a new machine you get a warranty and a certified technician associated with that warranty (generally). Finding a technician who knows how to work on vintage machines can be tough. Hope this helps a little and just my opinion.

I have located a mint condition Vintage Faema 91e...it is not much cheaper than a brand new Legend.

So this is my dilemma, Antique or Reproduction?

thanks for your input Willliam

Angelo wrote:I have located a mint condition Vintage Faema 91e...it is not much cheaper than a brand new Legend.

So this is my dilemma, Antique or Reproduction?

Go for antique, I have a 2g Faema e61 in the workshop which made nearly 5 million shots in 52 years.
The machine was still working with her last breath and she is getting some Faema love right now.
These machines will go up in price more and more, imagine having a 50+ year old machine in your Pizza shop and people will enjoy your espresso.
They will think that it is only because of the machine, although the machine plays the smallest part for pulling a proper shot.

I hope you are not ignoring the even more important things for making good espresso.
Do you know how to adjust the flow rate ? Will you serve classic Italian roasts or modern lighter ones ?

Angelo wrote:I have located a mint condition Vintage Faema 91e...it is not much cheaper than a brand new Legend.

So this is my dilemma, Antique or Reproduction?

thanks for your input Willliam

In that case I'm with terranova! I would go with the vintage then. If it's in almost perfect condition go for it.

Reproduction Legend = 1
Vintage E61 S2 = 1
ONE Vote for each = 1
many thanks for your comments and choice.

FAEMA Reproduction Legend or an Original Vintage E61, that is the question....???

I am so confused

If you buy new, does it come with a service contract and not just a warranty? Since downtime in a commercial setting is lost money, I'd worry about either machine if it falls to you to repair it. I'm sure you are busy enough at a restaurant!

I hope this helps some, since I can't actually comment on the two machines.

Original = somewhat more care and attention needed, so extra training for potential baristas. (Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes "check the sight glass and refill the boiler every half hour" just doesn't resonate with the smartphone generation!)

Legend takes care of all the background processing so all that's needed is a touch more than "normal" barista skills, i.e. knowing when to turn the lever to "off". A lot will depend on exactly how original the machine is, I've seen quite a few retrofitted with auto boiler refill and modern pressurestats.

Alan

Hi all,
thanking you for all your feedback. Does anyone know if reproduction is built to the same standards as the original vintage...thanks