When I ran this machine...
I began to understand why these older front loaders are so desirable in Europe. I'm not sure if this is a matchbox, or something else. Maybe someone can fill me in. Anyway. When it washes, it fills to the bottom of the boot. But during rinse, it fills half way up the door several times and really flushes out the detergent! It doesn't spin very fast, I would estimate that it's probably less than 500 RPM. But it does reach top speed very quickly, within what seems to be seconds. The motor is obviously quite healthy: There is plenty of torque.
I haven't seen a front loader like this in years, if I saw one at all. There is no reference on the internet, and the scrapper who found it thought of it as such a novelty he just couldn't bring himself to redeem the metal value out of it. So here it is! How many exist here in the United States, I haven't a clue. They didn't sell very well back in the 1980's, so I guess not many were imported.
Any information I can get, as well as any possible photos of the original Italian model would be of the greatest help. Keep me in your prayers as I go through this with the greatest care I can muster, as I may not be able to even find parts should something break!
NorfolkSouthern