Famosa VAC
A late machine, which has the flavour of the mid- to late fifties, when calculator construction was largely exported to then low-wage countries like Spain and Italy. Brunsviga/Olympia did it, and there were numerous other brands which were manufactured in Italy, such as Antares and IMCA, and in Spain, such as Iris, and also this one, Famosa. Famosa stands for Fábrica de Artículos Mecánicos para Oficina, S.A., and it was located in Barcelona. In fact, the building is still there - it can be found at Carrer de Roger 65-67. It has gained a few stories though, and a few neighbouring buildings as well. See below for a contemporary picture.
The machine itself is surprisingly Odhner-like. The only real difference with Original Odhners of the time is the clearing system for the carriage, which instead of cranks has long pull-levers, which allow to clear both the result register and the counter register with one smooth movement. The green metallic paint reminds of that other contemporary (Italian) manufacturer, Antares. The machine also has back transfer from the result to the input, and one-hand operation, with the carriage shift lever being under the main operating crank. It is a very solid machine which after 60 years still works flawlessly, save for a small adjustment needed on the input clearing.
It came with two (original) manuals and a green cover.
The pinwheel cylinder is brass.
Now, some pictures:
And the manuals (in french) one of which has a handy fold-out flap with the legend to the controls for the machine:
And finally, an image of the factory, back then, and today.
