"But back in the '70s and early '80s, the Italians were still showing the rest of the world how to do it."
True that. Only a few of the American builders were as hip as the Italians.
Well...the internal expander seatpost that was used in the Leader AX never really caught on! Sano, but bizarre.
For some reason, Moser's were few and far between in my area.
Some where, there's a Moser catalog or two that need to be scanned and put online.