The Evolution of the FAEMA Lever group

[Aaron]

I have been lusting after some vintage FAEMA machines on the internet and have noticed there are a few different types of group design.
Over the years I can recall reading various posts on a number of Forums but I thought it would be good to pose the question here:
What is the name of each group style, what machines did each appear on, what were the production dates, and are seals available for them?
I have grabbed some group shots from the internet (and this site) of the ones I sort of know. but would appreciate any light that can be shed.

The middle picture I know is the Zodiac Group which was used on he Urania, Lambro and President
Id be guessing it started around 1954 isn? and from reading a couple of rebuild threads I know it came with three variations of the size of the central collar, spring and piston shaft.

Is the first one an "italacrem" group? thats a name stuck in my head from somewhere. It earlier than the Zodiac but I'm not sure if its the first FAEMA lever group.
and the last one I know was used on the Velox wall models but I think the same casting was also used without the heating element.

would appreciate any other lever and FAEMA fans to help fill in the blanks

[Aaron]

Just found this shot, its listed on a spare parts website as a Zodiac but i don't think thats right

[kofekitt]

Hi Aaron , good luck trying to pin down Faema dates and models, they liked to mix and match parts alot, and there are plenty of crossovers. The middle group is indeed often referred to as the zodiac or zodiaco group, although a few euro restorers don't like it being called that for some reason. The group on the right, shares the same top casting as the zodiaco, but different lower section, and also comes with element in the group (velox) and standard thermosyphon set-up. I have a Mercurio back in NZ, which has the group on the left - i've never heard of a particular name for it, but just refer to it as the early curved group. They all have their pluses and minuses and you can't go too far wrong with any of them. If you need any further help, send me a PM - i've just moved to Sydney and would be happy to help with any opinions on machines you're looking at

[Aaron]

Thanks Kofekit. I have been reading posts on restorations for a couple of years and while lots of info goes into my head, it gets a bit scrambled.
Being a bit of a FAEMA fan i just thought it would be interesting to know which is which. Strangely in Enrico Maltoni's book he shows patent drawings and photos of the different groups but just labels them "piston group" without going into any more detail.

[caninefreak]

Hi Kofekitt, are you restoring any twin group lever machines at the moment.?

[caninefreak]

Talking about vintage Faema machines, i never see any vintage grinders, just machines.Is there anyone in NZ or Oz collecting/restoring 50s/60s grinders, FPs etc.?