I just won one off of e-bay this month. When I lived in Ottawa I was going to get a custom Marinoni steel, but something happened and I went the other route. This was in '82. At that time the company had a very good reputation. I think the seller is confused by calling it "Italien made" though, as I remember, the factory is in or near Montreal. I bought mine a bit blind, but was attracted by the SL lugged frame. If I were you I would contact the shop directly, or get in touch with someone like Mike Barry Sr. who runs Bicycle Specialties outside of Toronto as far as researching the quality of these bikes, but I have never heard a negative reference, and the deal should be good in the US as they are not well known there.