1970 Adler Electric 151c #7754658

Status: My Collection
Hunter: Paolo Dal Chiele (pdcox)
Created: 01-02-2023 at 07:51AM
Last Edit: 04-08-2025 at 01:28PM

Description Hunter 31 Photos 2 Likes  Find on Ebay #AD  Find on Etsy #AD

Description:

Update 2
I was very keen to get this typewriter repaired, and considering the condition it was in, it wasn't a given. Fortunately, the only serious problem was the motor as I hoped, and the rest was a matter of cleaning the typewriter thoroughly, lubricating it, and making any necessary adjustments.
One important point is that the shift noise absorbing pads were intact: they are usually destroyed or nearly destroyed, and this causes serious alignment problems. Rebuilding and replacing them is quite a pain, and I was glad I didn't have to do that on this machine.
The carbon ribbon drive mechanism was stuck but now works fine; I just need to find a ribbon...
The Ro 32 Milano typeface is one of my favourites of the various options available on Triumph-Adler models of the period, second only to the much rarer N 24 Favorit. The Favorit was available in one size only in the standard electric models with the carbon ribbon, while the Milano was available on all standard electric models, and also in the Universal and, in one size only, in the Record.
Following in the list of the project is an Adler Electric L with Stenorette control that brings the challenge to the next level. The design of the late generation of Triumph Adler electric have been greatly improved in terms of simplicity and efficiency in comparison with the first generation...


Update
The engine is seized, and therefore I disassembled the carriage return band to mount it on the 131d, at least I can use it.
It's a temporary solution, considering that the 151c is quite a rare model. Top of the Adler range, it was produced for less than a year as far as I understand, and it is a 'zwitter' between the previous 41c of which it retains the mechanics (Type I carbon ribbon mechanism, absence of the advance half space key , cursor start button etc.) and the following 151d, of which it anticipates the body shape (with the exception of the keyboard, which is still with isolated keys instead of block keys).
The Milano font is an additional bonus that makes the machine even more particular.
It is therefore a question of finding a working engine and putting it back in working order.

First serie of the latest model of the standard electro-mechanical Adler identified with three digits:
111: model without tabulator
131: model with simple tabulator
151: model with decimal tabulator
Until serial number 7767518 the models equipped with carbon ribbon were identified by the addition of the letter c; starting from this serial number the drive system has been updated, and the models equipped with the new system have been identified with the letter d.
Starting from serial number 7768930 the models without carbon ribbon have been identified with the letter f.
Font: Ro 32 Milano 10.p (available only on standard models).

Typeface Specimen:

Photos:

The seized motor and the carriage return band removed, ready to be installed on the 131d.

At the end of the work...

Side by side with the ancestor that is next in the list of my projects

At the beginning of the, with the seized motor and the broken cable

Removal of the carriage draw band form a later generation donor machine: the blade spring have replaced three individual compression springs that had the very bad habit to jump on the face of the mechanic when removing the clutch. Small but useful improvement

Naked, after the cleaning

Also the carriage needed a detailed cleaning

The carriage base

The carriage

The progressive evolution of typewriter industrial design, as in car design, at least in Europe mirrored the general trends in the fifties and sixties from the soft shell to flow line to wedge line, and trends also reflects in the evolution of the advertising campaigns.

Hunter: Paolo Dal Chiele (pdcox)

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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 ...