Designed by Mario Bellini along the lines of previous Praxis models …

… they’re lines that wouldn’t look out of place on a Parisian rooftop …

A simple and sturdy paper rest slots neatly into place behind the platen …

A large lever on the right-hand side of the platen is a bit of a mystery. It’s not mentioned at all in the instruction guide.

15/10/2021 The answer was provided by Guillermo Fernandez Boan: Mystery solved. That lever is part of the “carrying instructions”. 1) Turn the typewriter off 2) Slide the print unit manually to the extreme right of the platen 3) Lock the print unit in position by pulling the lever in the direction of the arrow. So, the lever use is the above: to avoid the print unit freely moving during transport. To use the typewriter, the lever must be moved backwards prior to turning on the typewriter.

Subsequent compact models, the ET Compact 65 and ET Compact 66 (larger siblings of the ET Personal 55 and ET Personal 56, released in November 1989), have a similar specification, but are smaller and lighter (6.6 kg as opposed to 8.9 kg).

Interestingly, the Praxis compatible ribbon was a little awkward to fit. Here’s the ribbon that was in the machine…

Here’s one of a stash of “Praxis 35” (2669SC) compatible ribbons I have:

There’s a noticeable difference, with the latter having a more open bottom edge. It does fit, but perhaps not as easily as it should, meaning the Praxis 45 GRP-167C ribbon is the one the ET Compact 70 should take.