dfk41, my daily machine is a 20 yo ECM Giotto. There is nothing to wear out on these machines, except consumables, so they can go forever. I like that it doesn’t have any fancy electronics, which we all know WILL FAIL at some point.
I also have an ancient Rancilio Silvia V1, one of the first ever made. Same deal, can’t kill it.
Not long ago I acquired a really nice old single boiler Vibiemme Domobar Piccolo for a stupid price. It needed a service, nothing else. But the thing is a beast and brews damn nice coffee. All copper too, so cannot be destroyed. Everything that is lacking in the Silvia, the Domobar has. It’s a Silvia killer. Such a cool machine with incredibly pretty looks to boot. I don’t want to part with it but it will have to go at some point. But I have some loose plans to add a PID, so I may be hanging on to it for a tad longer!
I would really like an old vintage La Pavoni Europiccolo to fix up, if the opportunity arose. Here in Australia, we don’t see the older ones come up for sale at all.
