Rapida Express, Super Rare Ferrari of Moka Pots!

The third of the "three moka pots we acquired from a local collector."  This one, the Rapida Express, is the one that made us pull the trigger.  It's so weird and rare (never seen another one, and almost zero evidence on the web.)  Which instantly makes this a "must have" for any vintage coffee machine collector.  

The guess would be it was made in the late 50s/early 60s (in Turin, Italy.)  

But it could be anywhere from the 50s to the 70s!  

The bakelite handles suggest the early part of that range, but crazy stuff was being made "the old fashioned way" in Italy well into the 1970s.  So unless you know something we don't, your guess is as good as ours!

The most distinguishing feature of the Rapida Express, aside from it's "ray gun" handle and shape, is the ingenious three-way "lever" on top of the portafilter that routes the hot water/steam in different directions. 

Pointing to the left gets "vapore" (steam) and to the right is "acqua" (water.)   

The middle position is "chiuso," or closed.  (Not sure what the practical value of that is!)

And yeah, we've tried it, and it works! 

We even sourced a new portafilter seal, and cap seal, descaled the interior, and cleaned and shined up the aluminum body a bit.  So it's pretty much "rebuilt" as much as is possible with a simple coffee maker like this.

Not sure about using this as a "daily driver" even if you're into moka pot coffee.  It's age and rarity means it's probably more suited to being objectified on a shelf somewhere!  

And there's the potential crazy issue with the steam knob being unable to screw all the way out of the valve!  You have to really "try" to do it since it takes a lot of "unscrewing," but definitely not a good feature to check out when you've got hot water inside!  Really only something "made in Italy" could get away with assuming a baseline competence level among the public that would prevent morons from unscrewing the knob all the way under pressure!  (This would never work in America with lawyers!)

The bottom, which came flat from the factory to sit on the stove top, has a raised area where some previous user apparently got it hot enough to deform to aluminum.  But it doesn't effect the way it sits, or seem to present any other issue

Overall, it's in about as good a shape as you could hope for a 60 year old moka pot!

If you value design, simplicity, weirdness, and vintage Italian contraptions, this is quite probably your only chance ever at owning the Rapida Express.