Acquiring a pre-1969 SM9 was the goal from the start. After that, things changed.
In 1964 Olympia broke from the carriage-shift design that had carried the SM line since the SM3 and built a new body around a segment shift mechanism instead, the type basket doing the moving instead of the platen.
First-year SM9s had off-white keys with turquoise accents and a matching turquoise badge. The badge went back to metallic in 1965, though the colored shift keys stuck around longer. Mine, at 1966, belongs to this first body style.
The 1969 redesign moved the tab keys off the spacebar and onto the left of the keyboard. By the mid-1970s the finish work had gotten visibly cheaper. The machining swirls on the paper guide and support disappeared sometime between 1972 and the late 1970s. The carriage lock went from a lever with a plastic cap to bare metal.
Collectors call the final 1977 version the low point of the line.
Machine Record
Another Marketplace find, and cheap for what it turned out to be. The seller had it listed as a 1965 SM8. It’s actually a 1966 SM9. Easy mistake. Olympias are hard to pin down.
It’s the cleanest machine I’ve brought home yet. A wipe-down with Simple Green, a brush through the eraser dust caught in the segment, and it was ready to type on. The seller had even loaded a fresh ribbon.
Aesthetics
Olympia’s legendary fit and finish still hold up on this one. The overall design isn’t as iconic as the SM3, but it’s still a beautiful machine. My biggest complaint is that my SM9 looks like every other SM9. Olympia stopped offering different colors like they did on earlier models.
7/10 clacks.
Typing Feel
The SM3 was the machine to beat in my collection. The SM9 beats it hands down. Snappy and solid without being stiff, and the touch control lever lets me dial the tension until it lands exactly where I want it.
The bigger change is segment shift instead of carriage shift. I don’t mind carriage shift machines, but Olympias are built heavy, and moving that whole carriage on every capital letter is real work when your wrists are the weak link. The SM9 asks a lot less of them during longer sessions.
9/10 clacks.
Features
Keyset tabulator, touch control, line spacing options, dual-color ribbon support, a retractable paper support arm. All of it is listed on the bill of sale.
The parts nobody lists are the ones I keep noticing: a scale ruler printed straight onto the paper bail, and a second one worked into the margin scale on the back of the machine. There’s even an arrow that marks dead center of the page, in case you ever need that without measuring it yourself.
I have no plans to draw a ruled line by hand on this machine. It can do it anyway.
9/10 clacks.
Portability
Portability is where Olympia falls short. These are larger and heavier than the average portable, solid metal rather than anything built to travel light. I wouldn’t want to carry this one around every day, and I don’t think anyone else would.
The case itself is basic. Functional, nothing more. The locking mechanism is the one part that stands out, among the best I’ve seen on any typewriter case, Olympia or otherwise.
5/10 clacks.
Historical Significance
American novelist, screenwriter, and playwright, William Goldman, is the most famous SM9 user. His career spanned seven decades, sixteen novels, and included Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, All the President’s Men, The Princess Bride, and many more.
7/10 clacks.
Overall
The Olympia SM9 ranks among the absolute best portable manual typewriters ever made. Collectors and heavy writers revere it as a reliable “tank” of a machine, representing the peak of German mechanical engineering and everyday utility.
While vintage models like the SM3 win points for retro chrome-trimmed aesthetics, the SM9 is mechanically superior for long-form writing due to its lighter shift mechanism and refined engineering.
8/10 clacks.
