I think you are right, the R must be for the newer ones. Apparently when they made that change, they also changed the angle on the valve so it sticks straight out.

Yours must be older than mine if it doesn't have the 123 on it. I looked for other marks and the only other thing on it is "made in Sweden" in tiny letters on the valve stem.

I tried to find more on them online and didn't have any luck either. I did see a few on eBay-a couple had the cookkit. One sold a while back for about $160.

Thanks for the tip on the cleaner; mine could use a polishing.

Here are some more reviews on another site, including some users' tips on starting and maintaining it. Many of them are from people who've owned one of these for 20 or 30 years, so it shows how much people like them.

Svea 123 reviews