It isn´t a Lettera 22, it´s a completely different beast. Under the hood it´s nothing to do with the Lettera 22, and as far as I can tell it´s not as good, but TBH none of my machines are at 100%. I have one of these which skips a lot of spaces and needs a lot of time (but it was almost for free), and another one which is its poor man´s version: the Sundstrand 2000. Plastic body and weaker, useful only for ocassional typing. In fact, therre are several things that don´t quite add up with the Sundstrand (such as the autospacer and  the tab key), but it´s a Underwood 18´s lookalike.

Finding a fully functional Olivetti MP1 is good news! The Ico, I'd say, is easier to find than this, so IMO there's nothing bad in having secured this beauty 

Uwe wrote:

but I can't think of any machine that I can't get used to after a sufficient amount of time.

I agree with that. Every model has its unique features, and you wont type "properly" with it unless you spend a bit of time with it. I mean you won´t get the character of any typewriter just by typing a couple of pages with it, and that´s something that I find absolutely engrossing. The more you write with a machine the better you know it, and eventually you´ll get a good grip of it. You´ll know the strong and weak points, the rhythm (which varies wildly from machine to machine), the "feel"... And there are no shortcuts. But once you´ve invested that time, you get the returns, and I´d say this works with every typewriter. From my experience, I´ve always found hard typing with AZERTY layouts, but I´m getting the hang of it.

Being one with the typewriter... that´s a different story. Not every typewriter is going to be your typewriter of choice (As the Linea 98 is for me ), but any typewriter will perform up to its maximum (and some reach it really fast, i.e.the bad ones) after some practice.

As a spin-off, I want to add how typewriters have changed over time. It´s not the same typing on a pre-WWII machine or in a 70´s beast. It´s amazing how fast a Rheinmetall 9 can be, but it´ll never be the same as a SG3 from the 70´s. Which one suits you better, that´s up to you
 

Definitely weird. 

I wouldn´t do anything about it, though. That purple typeslug... and the upside-down one... Just in case don´t annoy it.

On a more serious tone, I wouldn´t do anything either. Whatever the reason these things are there (and I swear I have no idea), these little quirks are what make each typewriter different, and as long as they don´t cause any harm or disturbance.

I think I can see something in that type sample... Maybe it's just me, but there may be a little difference when typing in caps. It seems to be a bit more even.

If it's the case, I'd say it's a fine tuning issue. I'm having a hard time trying to explain this as accurately as possible, but my mind goes in the direction of larger typewriters, in which vertical allignment can be adjusted easily. Standsrd sized Underwoods, I mean. I don't know if it's viable in a Lettera 32 (I have 5, of which 3 are fine and the other 2 are inoperative and waiting for repairs), so this is like thinking aloud.

Anyway, I insist: I'm far from being an expert. This is just an option That I think doesn't harm to consider   

Apart from that... I find interesting how you compare a SM9 and a humble Lettera 32. I've always said the Pluma 22 is one of the best small portables and the Lettera 32 is its worthy successor, but the SM9 is a true force of nat... Engineering. Thing is that they should play in different leagues. The SM9 is much larger, so you should expect better results, but the Lettera 32 no doubt punches above its weight. I guess that's why I have 5 Letteras 32 and "only" 2 SM9's