So, I may have made a very interesting financial decision.

I was casually looking around for a Faema Marte and was pinging some contacts on anything interesting. I was offered a few two group Martes but I was sort of hoping to get a 1 group. As I was talking with one of those contacts I was casually mentioning a Marte would be cool to have but I sort of was dreaming of a Gaggia Internazionale.

Well, he happened to have one for sale from an anonymous owner! I sort of shorted out mentally for a second after receiving that response as I have never seen one for sale except for one time when Maltoni was offering one last year restored. I was given the price the seller wanted and I was left to ponder about it for a few days over last weekend. I made a counter offer after some thought, and we settled on a price between my price and his price. A few of the pics provided by the seller.





The contact that informed me of this offer was acting as a middleman to help find a buyer for the seller. Today he picked up the machine after the funds were received by the seller.






First thoughts: it looks complete
Second thoughts:

It is currently being prepped for shipment by Pascal, the contact that informed me of this offer (I received permission to say who he was in my posts). I am not sure when it will get to me but let's just say I am just a bit excited to receive it.

Now something to note. This was an expensive purchase, more than any other machine I have bought previously by far. I will not say the final price publicaly, but I am not sure I'd recommend buying something of this price tier without absolutely knowing it's something you want and has been on a top dream list for some time. I only was able to make this purchase because of a fun investing account I started back in 2016 with about 3k that happened to have done very well the week prior due to various earnings reports and was intended for a fun purchase like this. Otherwise I would have not been able afford it with my remaining budget chipped away by other recent expenditures.

wow!
She is a beauty!
( I do think we should have a drooling emoji added to the smilies, I could use one right now)

Good choice

Wow, very nice. It does look like one of the most complete ones i've seen for a while! And at least with Pascal, you know it will be packed well. I have bought from him before and he is very nice to deal with, and packs machines properly, unlike some euro sellers...

I think I forgot to mention... I now leave for long vacations, today. And I will be back on next January. I hope it's ok for you Ryan ?!

I will fly over and check the internazionale as a carry on bag if needed!

Gorgeous machine, can't wait to see the progressions and final result of this absolutely unique looking machine.

I always thought that it had an 'Autoclave' look to it.

To me the one group always looked like the cockpit of an airplane. I love the look.

Beautiful

It looks fantastic! Please be careful when you first get it - don't just lift it out of the crate. The outer shell/shroud isn't really part of the structure of the machine and is therefore quite easy to potentially damage - its only attached at the front, so when holding it and taking weight at the back, its possible to dent or crimp the shroud. IMHO its safer to take the shroud off before moving it. Good luck, it'll be worth it I'm sure!