Fresh from my work table, this is a handsome example of Smith-Corona's premium portable typewriter from the late 1960s, the Electra 120. Here's a quick video of the machine in operation:

The online typewriter database has no serial number information for this series of electric portables, but this example is identifiable as a later model because the line spacing offers increments of 1/2 line. Instead of the 1,2,3 line-spacing choices offered on earlier Electras, this machine lets you choose among 1, 1.5 or 2 lines. The half-line increment is useful in many ways, a real improvement considering the ways most people actually use a typewriter.

If you're shopping for an early Smith-Corona electric typewriter here on eBay, you'll find hundreds to choose from. Few, however, have been serviced, tested and adjusted by enthusiasts like me. I'm experienced with this line of machines, having sold nearly a hundred examples of the Electra and its slightly less-expensive sister, the Coronet, here on eBay.

I've fitted this machine with a fresh bichrome ink ribbon. Its original Trimline carrying case still has the locking key.

Please take a close look at the typed specimen page. This is something you need to see if you're serious about using a typewriter rather than merely setting it out on display. This typewriter's cosmetics are fine, but after all, the printed impression is the machine's final product. The type pitch you see here is pica, 10 characters to the inch.

I removed this typewriter's bodywork to make some needed adjustments and to administer a deep cleaning with brushes, solvents and compressed air. The body shell, with its original Smith-Corona finish of metallic blue, polished up nicely; this machine now presents handsomely on the desk. 

Every function of this typewriter has been tested and attended to, and now works correctly. I've gone through the usual checks and adjustments: the master trip, the end-of-line bell, the tabulator speed brake and the caps/lowercase alignment. 

Because one of the plastic carriage-release levers was cracked, I've reinforced both of them with marine epoxy. And as I frequently do with Smith-Coronas of this vintage, I replaced one of the machine's drivebelts, which had developed a kink from sitting wrapped around a pulley for decades. The drivetrain now runs smoothly and quietly, just as an SCM portable should.

Smith-Corona's early electric portables enjoy many admirers among typewriter enthusiasts. In her blog, myoldtypewriter.com, Mary Echevarria writes: "I always say that I am not an electric typewriter person, and then I handle one of these SCM electrics and fall in love with it.  They’re small, fairly lightweight, quiet, and nimble (when clean). The clear, consistent imprint is a wonder.  They are as close to a manual typewriter as you can get. Nothing weird or impenetrable in the guts: all simple, understandable Smith-Corona mechanics."

Another fan of the Electra is Duane Jensen, proprietor of Phoenix Typewriters and a doyenne of the online typewriter community. I recommend Mr. Jensen's youtube video introducing the Electra -- it's entitled, "Smith Corona Electra 120 = Best Mechanical Typewriter . . . Ever!"

For the typist, this machine is a pleasure. I'm a 70-wpm touch typist and the Electra easily keeps up with me. 

Ribbons for this typewriter are readily available and priced between $5 and $10 on eBay; the new ribbon I've installed here should be good for several hundred pages. (A typewriter listed without a ribbon can't have been properly tested -- it's like a piano without strings.)

The Electra 120 was Smith-Corona's premium electric portable from the mid-1960s into the early 1970s. A wheel under the machine's front lip adjusts the sensitivity of the keyboard's touch. The Electra has a 12-inch-wide carriage and a full keyboard including the numeral 1 and the exclamation point. It has a "jeweled escapement bearing," which the guys in marketing made a big fuss about in that day. It has three keys which repeat when held down: the x, dash, and period. Its power spacer function is handy when filling out forms; its half-space function is helpful for making corrections.

Please do review my seller feedback. I appreciate the importance of careful packing and will do my best to ensure that this machine reaches you intact. I welcome questions from buyers as they get comfortable with a new typewriter. And I wish you all the best in your typewriter hunting. Thanks for reading.