1955 Torpedo Solitaire #837886

Status: My Collection
Hunter: Paolo Dal Chiele (pdcox)
Created: 03-29-2020 at 06:49AM
Last Edit: 03-29-2020 at 07:21AM

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Description:

The Torpedo Solitaire is a solid, functional standard, simple to maintain, lacking of the aesthetic and mechanical subtleties of some of its contemporary German competitors, and probably for this reason is not at the top of the list of collectors today, which is a pity, because it is a machine that has a lot to offer.
From a mechanical point of view, compared for example to the Adler Universal or the Triumph Matura, I greatly appreciate the fact that the return spring is fixed to the frame and not to the carriage that the bodywork is fixed to the frame by four screws on top of the machine and that the return spring, the escapement and other mechanisms are mounted on a transversal bridge which can be easily removed. All this makes the Solitaire a machine easier to clean, oil and repair than many of the competitors.
If many external details are not at the level of, for example, the Universal (rapid paper loading lever, rollers on paper bail, retractable support rod of the paper, scales on the bodywork etc.), the mechanic is of first quality , with, for instance, the axes of the spool supports and the carriage sliding on ball bearings and with truly excellent tolerances between the moving components.
It has everything a professional user needs, including adjusting the number of copies.
The controls are simple and intuitive: the two levers of the ribbon colour selector and of the marginator positioned respectively on the left and right of the keyboard may seem not very elegant, but in reality they are very efficient and easy to operate.
The keyboard then is really well done, with the keys with one of the best shaping I have ever experienced and with a correct spacing, which contributes to making the typing fluid and intuitive.
Last but not least: the light metallic green colour of the body is very pleasant and contrasts with the dark tones of many of its competitors (for some reason, it makes me thinking about the Chrisler Ghia Norseman), and then the name, Solitaire ...
The machine spent several years in a warehouse, and in fact it was full of sawdust as well as other residues and, I fear, "organic residues" of various kinds which contributed to the appearance of various points of rust.
From a mechanical point of view, the only problems were the left ribbon reverse mechanism which was blocked and the return spring of the paper support which is broken. The first problem has been solved, the second still not, having not yet found a suitable spring for the purpose. Research continues ...

Typeface Specimen:

Photos:

Striking contrast between the Solitaire and the über-schreibmachine Adler Universal. Both machines have been produced in 1955.

The keyboard tension knob.

That was remained under the typebars

The left ribbon reverse mechanism that was blocked due to rust, dust and who knows what else...

The main spring fixed to the typewriter body is a very cleaver solution, making the works on the removed carriage much more simple that in the case, for instance, of the Universal or Matura.

The broken return spring of the paper support, which looks indeed not solid as it should have been for this kind of typewriter.

Back to work.

Hunter: Paolo Dal Chiele (pdcox)

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Status: Typewriter Hunter
Points: 2417

Interested in historic motoring and vintage cars, I received a typewriter as a bonus when I bought and old off-road car. The previous owner had found somewhere a typewriter produced for the German army and when he sold me the car he gave me the typewriter too. As I learned later, it was a1961 Olympia SM7 Robust..
Of the typewriters I value more character than perfection, the signs that time has left and the stories - or fragments of stories - of those who used them ...