Erika Model 11 1959

A very nice example of the ERIKA Model 11 typewriter in green-gray with green keys. The Erika Model 11 is highly regarded by collectors and typists for its beauty and especially its usability. Comes complete with new two-colour ribbon and is typewriter is ready for typing. This typewriter has been fully serviced and cleaned, restored and adjusted.  It is working perfectly and ready for typing.

This typewriter is sold complete with a 6-month mechanical guarantee, lifetime service advice and shipping including full insurance.

This Erika is in excellent condition mechanically. All keys type well, the platen-roller is clean and still soft, chrome is in excellent condition, levers and buttons work as original. The rubber feet are soft enough to grip the desk well, the paper feeder rollers are soft and appropriately grip the paper.

The cosmetic condition is good but it does show some very minor signs of age and use. These are visible in the photographs.

This is the very popular Model 11: the distillation of the best parts of the Erika Models 10 and 12 into a more portable typing machine. The Model 11 combines all the fine mechanics of these other models and maintains the beautiful soft, solid, fast feel of them. This is a real writer's typewriter with portability. The design is rather "utilitarian" but somehow the beautiful proportions and overall design raises is to a higher aesthetic level.

For some discussion on this very well-respected model of the Erika typewriter, see:
https://writelephant.com/2015/10/15/erika-11-out-of-10/

The serial number is 2051028 marking this as being manufactured in 1959.

This ERIKA Model 11 comes with its original case, an Erika sales brochure showing the Erika 11 and an original cleaning brush. The case is in excellent condition with only small signs of wear and use.

Mechanically this typewriter is in perfect working condition. All systems have been checked and adjusted or aligned as necessary. It has been thoroughly cleaned and properly lubricated for years of service.All the chrome is unblemished and uncorroded. The keytops are in fine condition without any signs of fingernail scratching. Everything works as it should and as originally designed.

It has an English keyboard (QWERTY) with foreign accents and the typing action is superb: light and fast but with solid and quick carriage movement (for fast typewriting). This typewriter has the Elite typeface with 11 characters per inch.

Regarding the rubber: Platen Roller is smooth, clean and soft, with a wonderful durometer reading of 92 (ideal is considered by most to be between 82 and 95). The Paper Feeder Rollers are new-like and soft. The Feet are new-like and soft.
Regarding the chrome and aluminium: In top condition with no signs of corrosion.
Regarding the Body condition: The paint finish overall is wonderful. There is a small spot of paint loss to the right of the spacebar and a coupld of very minor spots of wear on the backside of the body under the ribbon cover. In the photos, there is a mark directly under the spacebar, but that was only dust and has been wiped away.

This fine example of an Erika Model 11 will be packed and shipped with the greatest care to preserve its condition and beauty. We have a lot of experience in shipping typewriters and have an excellent track record for proper packing and safe delivery. It will be fully insured for shipment.

See my buyer reviews and you will have confidence in your purchase! If you have any questions or wish to see more photos, please don't hesitate to contact us.

This typewriter, like all of our typewriters, has gone through the following inspections, among others, and adjustments have been made as required:
1. Carriage movement
2. Platen condition
3. testing of platen locks, free head and paper release
4. Condition and pressure of front and rear feed rollers
5. Line space mechanism
6, Position and action of paper shield and paper bail functions
7. Testing of paper guides
8. Placement and clearance of line gauge
9. Proper functioning of carriage release levers
10. Movement and play of shift mechanism
11. Correct action of shift keys
12. Testing of cylinder and anvil positions
13. Spring drum tension
14. Ribbon feed and reverse, and ribbon position
15. Typebar and type guide position and action
16. Margin release, line lock and bell mechanisms
17. Space bar trip, key lever spring tensions and level of keyboard
18. Key card correspondence with characters
Among other inspections and adjustments...

ACME TYPE MACHINE COMPANY
Acme Type Machines is dedicated to the conservation and restoration of fine vintage typewriters from the era of fine, modern typewriter design and manufacture: the 1930s through the early 1970s. We have a carefully earned reputation for fine machines, excellent conservation and restoration, attentive customer service and good after-sale care and advice.

Our gallery of typewriters has clients in the United States and Canada, Australia and China, Morocco and Brunei, Finland and Japan and may places in-between. Our clients include many important collectors of typewriters, screenwriters and novelists, European and American interior designers, film art and production design departments and the casual--but discriminating--individual.

The aesthetic that drives us at Acme Type Machines is that of the museum conservator: to preserve our "typewriter" cultural heritage in a way that retains the integrity of the original object, restoring its mechanical components to their original utility, conserving the original cosmetic condition, and taking account of any historical aspects of its use or ownership.

All of our typewriters, except in some very exceptional circumstances (carefully noted in the description), are ready to use in the same manner as when they were originally manufactured and purchased. Some of our clients are screenwriters and novelists, using our typewriters on a daily basis. Some are collectors, rarely using the machines to type, who appreciate the meticulousness with which our typewriters are conserved.

Typewriters from Acme Type Machines are not inexpensive. The number of mechanical tests and adjustments, the attention to the cleaning process, small repairs etc., require hours of time and careful and professional work.
We find our typewriter treasures throughout Europe and the process of acquiring these fine machines can require long and delicate negotiations. Protected shipment and transportation to our gallery and workroom adds expense, as well.

After a typewriter is sold to a client, it undergoes a final testing, cleaning and inspection. The typewriter is then carefully prepared with protection on the platen-knobs, between the ribbon-cover and the body, and on the carriage return lever and other vulnerable parts. The escapement is protected by immobilising the carriage. The typewriter and case are wrapped in a layer of protective, strong bubble-wrap which is then placed in a carton box of double thick cardboard (carton). Shipment is made with padding--on six sides--of foam-rubber and fitted styrofoam.

Our goal is to provide a wonderful, working, vintage typewriter--usable, beautiful and aesthetically interesting--to your home or office, film studio or art department.