For about 25 years or so, I've been eyeing the Optimus line of vintage white gas stoves. Two models in particular have been in my sights; the Svea 123 and the 8R Hunter. I've pretty much given up on them, as they are a hotly coveted items on Ebay, often fetching $100 or even $200 in some cases. Surprise surprise, one showed up on Kijiji last week for $10, and I managed to snag it. It's very well-used but they clean up very nicely, and are awesome units.
Above photo shows a couple of examples, one a little dirtier than the other.
I just had to test mine out as-is to see if it was ok. The guy told me he bought it at Sears in 1970.
As suspected, it fired right up...see the video below...
It's a noisy beast, but I'm so glad to finally get my paws on one...now that I know it works, I'm going to try and replace a couple of parts, paint the case, and shine up all of the brass. Hopefully it'll look like this when I'm done...