Thanks. I'll study up. Aside from keeping an eye out for a resurrectable Pfaff 30 or 130 cheap (futile, I suspect) I haven't looked into German stuff much. I cant see the needle-plate end in the pic; does it have a class 15 lineage? It looks like some of the 50's Japanese machines (Morse 4100ish, maybe). Did someone say what year it might be?
The aesthetics of sewing machines, and their relationship to nationality are fascinating. There's nothing more American, for example, than a pink Japanese zig-zagger or a seafoam green one, both in colors derived from Fender who bought their paint from (American) auto makers and threw caution to the winds when it came time to paint the Stratocasters in particular. I have (ironies proliferating) a 70's Made in Japan Strat in the same shade as my Atlas zzer. The abounding knobs on the Japanese machines are unmistakably automotive, and so on.
It's fun to be with people who know this stuff. 'Til now, it's just been me, Google, and my battered toolboxes.