Links to each project (will be updated as necessary)
1958 La Cimbali Gran Luce Automatica

Last week I was on work travel that kept me away from my computer until Friday 18 August. When I came home that afternoon I saw in one of my secondary email inboxes a reply to a Craigslist wanted ad I had up since 2021 (over 2 years now). It was a message sent Monday 14 August (the day I left for the work trip) stating he had some old espresso machines. I've had replies over the years answering my wanted ad, but it was all nothing of interest or spam. Since I was on the work trip I did not immediately have a response, but by the time Friday rolled around the person sent some photos of the machines he had to me. That got my interest.


I sent a response stating I was interested in what he had, and we set a meet date for Sunday 20 August. He was near New York City, so it was about a 3 hour drive for me each way. I took out some money for a down payment and headed over with my dad. We spent three hours there checking out his collection. I brought some of my coffee for him to try, and we both pulled shots on his 1 group Gaggia America and functioning 3 phase Macdobar Doge grinder (he had a phase converter). It was quite fun!


His name was Chris, and he had an import clothing store in New Jersey, where he visited Italy multiple times a year for a week at a time buying clothes over the course of almost 40 years. He loves espresso. In his travels he met a few collectors of espresso machines. One of them, a roaster, had a small museum of espresso machines, but it was partially closing down to make space for a tasting room when Chris wanted to see it. The owner talked with Chris, who was interested in buying them after seeing them, and he acquired a portion of those machines. He retired and closed his business 13 years ago, and due to his self-reflection that he was getting old he was looking to let someone younger take over, accelerated by some recent health scares. He wanted to make sure his equipment was in new hands. I was told that he did not seriously reach out and advertise very much, and by a whim saw my Craigslist wanted ad.

We did settle on a price, and I took home half of the machines with me that Sunday. I brought the rest of the payment and collected the remaining equipment today, and this is by far my largest purchase I have ever made (a bit more than what I paid for my 1 group Internazionale). I was in a very opportune position to buy the machines because up until this week I had only purchased the Eurobar in February, so I had a large amount of funds available (although just barely enough to pay the agreed price). If it happened a year ago, I absolutely could not afford the price.



So here is what I got in the deal.
A La Cimbali Gran Luce Automatica (Hydraulic) 2 group
A La Cimbali Rubino 1st series 1 group
A Gaggia America 2 group
A Faema President 1 group
A Faema Urania 1st series 2 group w/V groups and cooling valves



I received a few grinders too which all have the original glass hoppers and covers; I am really happy those survived the trip home!



However, the most fascinating machine I acquired was a made by a very small espresso machine company, La Cosmo. I have never seen this style of bodywork before, and I have seen maybe two Cosmos with a hydraulic group. All I know is very few La Cosmos exist. It has a working light that may be original to the machine, but it is incredibly well preserved. I cannot overstate how clean it is, and it is only missing the original portafilter (but has a modified modern one to fit).







I am very appreciative Chris allowed me to purchase his collection. He still holds onto a few machines including the 1 group America since he does use them, but I have everything else. I am not sure when I will work on any machines, but I am very excited to check out the hydraulic groups. I will of course be updating Chris in my progress, and when I do begin work I will make separate threads on each machine.

I also got a copy of his inventory and what he originally paid for them in 1997. I found it pretty interesting actually as I keep track of what I pay for my stuff too, down to the penny

Thank you

I forgot to show the light on the Cosmo, which does function. This machine is one of the blingiest I've seen. The glass part with the little man holding an acorn and has Crema Caffe Natural is secured by just for speed nuts inside (interference fit with four pins).